Adventure Time Academy with Fionna the Human
by sarcasmisbetter
Summary: Fionna has fallen through a worm hole, and ended up in our universe. After Cake enrolls her in a prestegious Academy, Fionna soon meets the Class President Gumball, rich rocker boy Marshall, as well as her soon-to-be best buds Finn and Jake. Now Fiona must survive High School, confront her growing feelings, and try to find a way back home.
1. The Alley

**Chapter 1: The Alley**

Fiona groaned, and sat up.

"Where am I?" She mumbled.

The desolate alley provided little sympathy, or explanation. Overfilling trashcans lined the brick walls that stretched up to what seemed to be the heavens. There weren't any buildings this tall in any of the kingdoms Fiona had been in before. They even dwarfed the Candy Kingdom's Palace, where Fiona's bud Prince Gumball resided.

She rubbed her head, and closed her eyes, but when she did, visions of the splintered past flashed before her eyes. A strange hooded figure chanting words she did not understand, flashes of light, a swirling vortex, reaching for Cake as she fell through 'nothingness'. She opened her eyes and shivered.

_Best not close my eyes for the time being_. She thought to herself. _Right now, I have to figure out where the glob I am. _

She felt the soft plop of scattered raindrops that hummed as they hit the tin cans. Soon the drops turned into a light autumn drizzle around her. She sought shelter under a low hanging awning. She knelt down, pulled off her iconic green backpack, and sifted through its jumbled contents searching for her crystal sword inside.

_Why do I have so much stuff in here? Man, I am starting to turn into Cake. _She smiled to herself.

When she finally retrieved the small shard from a side pocket of her backpack, and attempted to activate it, nothing happened.

_Maybe I need to assume a more adventurer-position. _She stood up, and assumed the basic battle stance, her crystal sword held in her hands about an arms length in front of her. She swiped downwards screeching her battle cry, expecting the sword to transform...

Still, nothing happened.

She shook the sword a little to violently. Maybe it was damaged during the transportation...

She slipped the shard into her pocket, and stood up. _Well staying in this place isn't going to do me much good._

Just then a gang of older men in leather jackets walked up to her.

"Well. Well. Well. What do we have here?" A man with slicked back hair, and the damp butt of a cigarette squeezed between a set of stained teeth peered down at her.

"Looks like a little, baby, bunny got lost in the rain." A tall, wiry, man with his hands shoved in his pockets chimed in with an answer.

She stood up, and faced them. "Hey listen here you big jerks, I don't need any of your..Ooof!"

"Shaaaad up!" The man with the slick backed-hair yelled as he slapped her across the face.

She glared up at him through the misty tears and the rain. Nursing her aching cheek.

"You are going to regret that!" She snarled.

"And what is the little bunny going to do about it?" The wiry man chimed in again. Using the same mocking baby voice he had used earlier.

She held her fists up, and the gang started to laugh. _Why were they laughing at her? Didn't they know who she was? What she had done to the monsters that caused trouble in the land of Aaaa? She had faced bigger foes than the likes of these men, but now she was cold, alone, and without any sort of weapon to defend herself. Still, as a true adventuress of Aaaa, she had to fight until the bitter end. _

The gang surrounded her, and pushed her out into the middle of their circle. They proceeded to push her around the circle as if she were a ball being passed around in a game. They grabbed at her arms, and legs.

"Stop that!" She punched the man with the slicked back hair, who she had now determined was the leader of the gang, square in the jaw. The force of her punch was enough to send the man flying backwards into a garbage can.

The whole gang froze, not knowing what to do without the commands of their leader. Several seconds slipped by, and all that was heard was the rain, and the distant sound of car engines. The leader finally sat up from the pile of trashcans he had knocked over, and rubbed his aching head. He stared at the ground for a moment before making eye contact with Fiona. Not only had he been bested in front of his men, but he had been bested by a young girl.

"Get her!" He screeched, and pointed at her.

She tried to runaway, but the wiry man grabbed her arms, and held them behind her back. He was unreasonably strong for such a skinny man. She struggled, and kicked wildly, frantic to free herself from his grasp. He laughed as he leader walked over to her. He pulled off her backpack, and threw it to his remaining minions, who promptly began sifting through its contents like small children. Holding things up to momentarily examine them, then casting them aside once they had determined they had no value.

"Hey don't touch that!" She yelled frantically.

Fiona looked up in horror as the leader began to crack his knuckles, and glared at her saying in a calm voice. "Now you are going to see what happens to the people that mess with the Methuselah Gang."

"The wha..." Her question was interrupted with a hard blow to her write cheek, then to her left. The wiry man holding her began to chuckle. As if her pain caused him great pleasure, which it seemed to. After dealing another two blows, he picked her up by her bunny-eared hat, and ripped it off her her head.

"No!" She wailed, as he discarded the tattered remains of her beloved trademark hat in a nearby puddle.

What was this world coming to? She was alone, afraid, beaten to bloodiness, and no one seemed to care. The tears from the earlier punches, that she had been able to hold back, spilled from her ten fold. She began to weep like a small, lost child.

"Whose there?" A strong, sassy, feminine voice called from the opening of the alleyway.

The gang froze, and stared in the direction of the voice. The leader pausing in with his left hand raised in a bloody fist, and the minions in the middle of their pillaging. Even the laughing halted mid breath.

"Oh no! It's that crazy bitch from earlier!" The wiry man whispered.

"Good. Let her come." The leader grinned.

"No man. That chick is crazy or something. I saw her take on Big Joe once when he wouldn't get out of her way. He didn't get out of the hospital for a week!"

"Last time I counted, there were five of us, and only one of her." The leader hissed.

"And that's all I need to beat you fools into a pulp!" The sassy voice was upon them now. Cracking her knuckles.

"Well I am getting out of here!" The wiry man said as he dropped Fiona, and ran from the alley. The minons promptly followed him in the retreat.

"Fine! Runaway like the bunch of cowards you are! I can take this cow with my eyes closed, and both my legs broken!" The leader yelled after his quickly retreating gang.

"Well if you insist." The woman's voice cooed.

Fiona could only see the silhouette of a woman in the dark alley, but it didn't take light to know what transpired next. She could see the silhouette of the woman as she slammed the base of her palm up into the man's chin, as she placed her right foot on his left foot. Causing him to stumble backwards and fall yet again. Now that he was on the ground, the woman walked up to him as he scrambled to get back up, but it was too late. As he laid sprawled out on the ground, she stepped with her full body weight on both of his knees, making a sickly cracking sound of bone breaking. The man screamed in pain.

"Not as easy as you thought it is?" The woman purred.

Fiona's unknown savior spat on the man, and then turned to walk over to her. Fiona scrambled away from the woman, afraid that she might now turn on her. She had never seen a woman be so graceful before during combat.

"You alright baby? I promise I won't bite." The woman said as she offered Fiona a hand. Fiona studied the woman's outline for a moment before accepting her hand. It startled Fiona that she was able to help her up with such ease. The woman pushed Fiona's blond hair away from her face, and looked at her.

"Oh my. They sure put you through the ringer didn't they?" Fiona nodded.

"There were just so many of them. I couldn't take them all at once. Especially when they don't play fair." She mumbled in reply.

"Come on, let me walk you to the hospital."

"No please! No hospitals! I just want to go home!" Fiona pleaded.

The woman was quite for a moment. Then nodded. "Well if that is what you think is best. Is there someone there waiting for you?" Fiona didn't reply.

"Girl, are you telling me that you don't have a home to go back to?" Fiona shook her head.

The woman clasped her by the shoulders. "Why didn't you just say so! I have plenty of room at my place." The woman exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh no. I really mustn't." She replied hesitantly.

"Well. From what I understand of your situation. You don't have anywhere to stay, you are lost, and now you have some pretty serious injuries that need to be treated."

Fiona nodded.

The woman took Fiona's hands in her own. "Then it is settled. I will take you back to my place, and we can get this whole thing sorted out." The woman said becoming more excited.

"No hospitals?" She asked shyly.

"No hospitals." The woman shook her head.

"Okay." Fiona strangely enough, felt at ease with this woman. She reminded her of Cake with her mannerisms and speech. She trusted her because Cake would have done the same thing as this woman was doing.

_Maybe everything was going to be alright. _

* * *

Fiona woke up the next morning in a large, fluffy bed, with poofy pillows. Her body ached all over. In frontof her, there was an enormous window which lead out to a stone terrace overlooking a vast city scape. She sat up, and for the second time in a 24 hour period, she had no idea where she was. She got out of bed, opened the large glass doors, and slowly walked outside. Soaking in all that she saw.

The wind rushed around Fiona's face, and lapped at her hair. The wind felt so good on her bruised, and bandaged body. The rain had cleared, and now a beautiful, cloudless, blue sky. The trees where vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds beneath her. Whose leaves broke from the withered branches, and floated below her terrace. It was so funny, back in Aaaa, it was late spring, but here it was early Fall.

"Oh good. I was just coming to wake you." A friendly voice announce from behind her. Fiona spun around to face a beautiful, cat-like woman.

Cat not in the traditional sense that he had sprouted cat ears, and a tail, but it was something about the way she held herself, that reminded Fiona, of her sister back in Aaaa. She was a little taller than Fiona, and very slender like a model. Her hair was curly ringlets of brown and gold. Her skin, a light mocha. Her eyes were a yellow-hazel. She wore a tank top, and a pair of old pajama pants that looked like they had gone through the dryer one too many times.

She smiled at Fiona, and Fiona couldn't help smiling back.

"Come inside for goodness sake! You are going to freeze out here!"

Fiona obeyed and reluctantly walked inside to the room she had awoken in.

"Are you feeling any better? You really got the stuffing beat out of you last night."

Fiona nodded. Feeling a little shy, and still pretty out of it. All of a sudden her stomach began to growl angrily.

"Well follow me. I made you some breakfast. Do you like bacon and pancakes?"

Fiona's eyes grew big. The woman laughed. "I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

The kitchen was like the room she had been in a few minutes ago. Everything was simplistic and modern. A stainless steel kitchen with lots of windows looking out over the same vast city scape.

BMO would love this place. She thought to herself.

"I don't cook much anymore. I only order takeout because of my job, but I can make a mean pancake with a side of bacon." The woman beamed as she clumsily cracked eggs into a metal mixing bowl, and sliced thick strips of bacon, and placed them in a stainless steel pan over an electric stovetop.

"Are you sure you don't want any help?" Fiona asked her as she sat down at a polished wooden table with four matching stools.

"Oh please! You are my guest!" She insisted as she looked up from her work of measuring out a cup of milk, which in turn overflowed from her measuring cup.

"Gahh!" She spluttered as she shook the spilled milk from her hands, and threw a roll of paper towels in the direction of the puddle which was quickly pouring off the counter, and on to the floor.

Fiona giggled. "Here let me help you!" She stood up, and walked over to the kitchen.

"Thanks." The woman said embarrassedly

"Wow. I never thought about cooking pancakes with the bacon mixed it! It's truly genius!" The woman beamed.

"I thought you might like it!" Fiona smiled back at her. "My friend and I used to..." she began, but then stopped.

"You two used to what?" The woman continued.

"Oh it's nothing." Fiona replied hurriedly.

"Cake." The woman replied.

"What?" Gasped. Did the woman know who she was thinking of?

"That's my name." The woman replied.

"Oh..." She replied a little disappointedly.

The other Cake continued. "Well actually it is Catherine Keadersen, but as long as I can remember, people have called me 'Cake'. Strange, isn't it?"

"No, I think it is a wonderful name, and it suits you because you are so sweet." Fiona replied.

The other Cake thoughtfully bathed her bacon pancakes in butter, and drizzled them with maple syrup before continuing.

"May I ask what your's is?"

'Oh of course! How rude of me!" Fiona stuttered. "My name is Fiona, not short for anything, but you can call me 'Fi' if you want."

The other Cake smiled. "Fiona. I've always liked that name." She said thoughtfully as she popped a piece of bacon pancake into her mouth.

Fiona began to cut into her own bacon pancakes. As The other Cake continued.

"Well Fiona, I know that currently you do not have a place to live, and trouble likes to follow you, so I would like to offer you the chance to stay here."

Fiona dropped her fork. She knew that there was no way to get back without magic, and it seemed like none of her magical items worked in this world. She needed a place to stay, or she would wind up in another situation like last night, and next time, Cake might not be there to save her. And on top of all of this, now she had a very friendly woman offering her a place to stay. It really has been a strange day... She thought.

"What do I have to do in return?" Fiona replied.

The other Cake looked startled at her response. "Well... How old are you?"

"Almost seventeen." She replied proudly.

"Only sixteen? You look so much older! I mean I am only twenty seven!" The other Cake exclaimed breathlessly. "Well then, we need to enroll you in school."

"School? Why would I need that?"

"So you can become a productive member of society... I dunno. All I know is that every teenager has to go to school!"

Fiona pouted.

"Hold on. Let me make a few phone calls." The other Cake got up from the table, pulled her phone from its charger, dialed a phone number, and walked into the connecting living room. Fiona could hear whispers, but decided it was rude to eavesdrop on a host who had been so kind to her.

Fiona had finished up her pancakes, and washed them off in the sink as Cake strolled back into the room.

"I have some great news!" She squeaked with excitement.

"What is it?" Fiona asked with genuine interest.

"I got you in!" She beamed.

"Into what?"

"Into Vincent Academy! Only the most prestigious Academy in the country!" She squealed.

"And how did you manage to do that?" Fiona asked skeptically.

"Oh I am one of their success stories. A scholarship student (from what they call a 'poor' family) who graduated, and went on to become a world famous author. Now I am on the board of trustees (mostly by default). I just got off the phone with the president of the Academy, and he said he would be more than happy to take you."

"Cake, I don't know how I will be able to afford this! I don't have any money!"

"Oh don't worry about that honey! I will take care of you now! My mother always taught me to take care of those with less than me, and I think you are a pretty stand up kid. I know you will do great!"

"But Cake, I can't really accept this from you. Can't you just send me to a regular school?"

"With your stamina? You wouldn't last a day kid!"

That's what you think... Fiona thought to herself, but she didn't say anything.

"So I told the President of the Academy that you are my troubled niece, and you have been sent to live with me while your parents are traveling overseas for business. So try to stick to that story, but embellish it how you see fit." Cake winked at Fiona, and then began to ramble on about where they should go to have her uniform tailored, and where she should take her to get her hair done for the first day of class...

Fiona giggled. This young woman really reminded her of her Cake.


	2. Prep for School

"Alright Ms. Fiona Keadersen, your writing, and reading scores are well above average, so I am going to suggest you for honors classes there, but your arithmetic needs some serious help, so I have no choice but to place you in a remedial math class, and assign you a tutor."

Fiona sat next to Cake in her recently assigned councilor's office on Vincent Academy's prestigious, well-groomed campus. The office was neat, and tidy, and a small golden plaque was screwed on to the the entrance read 'Mr. Studibudi'. She smiled to herself, thinking of the irony of his name coinciding with his profession. Fiona was grateful that Cake had insisted on her learning to read from an early age. Prince Gumball had also played a part in helping her with writing and science, due to his passion for writing long research papers that he insisted she help him with. Yes, libraries and the ways of the scholar were not a new concept to her, but math was. She had always been fairly bad at math beyond multiplication and addition. Gumball had spent many a wasted hour over a paper-covered desk, sitting next to her trying to explain the more complex mathematical theories, but all his attempts had gone one ear, and out the other. She just wasn't interested. She didn't need to know the Pythagorean theorem to kill a three-headed cave yeti. But she did need to know it to survive high school.

"Don't worry girl! We will have you in honors Calculus in no time! Just you wait!" Cake nudged her side encouragingly, snapping her from her daydream.

Fiona smiled shyly back at her.

"Oh Mr. Study Buddy... Er... I mean Studibudi..." A pleasant voice sang from outside the doorway.

"Oh yes! Do come right in Mr. Schweet. I am just finishing up with these ladies." Mr. Studibudi replied.

A tall, preppy-looking boy with positively bubblegum pink hair stood at the door way. His arms weighed down with several large cardboard boxes stacked on top of one another. Fiona could tell that they were not going to fit through the short doorframe.

"Here. Let me help you!" She called as she got up from her seat and hurried over to help him.

"Oh no. I am quite alright. Please take as long as you like. I am in no hurry!" The boy replied hurriedly as he attempted to walk through the door way and set the boxes down.

Just as Fiona had predicted, the boxes were too tall for the door frame, and tumbled backwards towards the unsuspecting carrier underneath.

"Look out!" Fiona cried as she pushed the boy out of the way before the boxes could squash him.

The boxes burst open, scattering thousands of synthetic light pink and white rose petals around them.

"Flower petals?" She said with annoyance, expecting the boxes to be filled with something more heavy and dangerous.

"Oh my. This isn't good. Look at the mess I made!" A voice sighed from underneath her.

Fiona looked down and blushed. She had fallen on top of the young boy during her attempt to push him out of the way.

"Oh my goodness! I am so sorry!" She blushed as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Oh perfect timing!" Mr. Studibudi smiled. Not even seeming to notice the hallway floor outside of his office was now covered with pink and white rose petals.

"Ms. Fiona Keadersen, may I introduce you to the new Class President, Mr. Bernabon Schweet." He continued gesturing to the pink-haired boy standing above her.

_Gumball.._ She thought to herself.

"Very pleased to meet you Ms. Keadersen." He boy smiled like Prince Charming as he offered her a hand to help her up.

"Oh please, call me Fiona." She returned his smile, a light blush from earlier still present on her face.

Cake scoffed as she leaned against the doorframe next to Mr. Studibudi. She shot Cake a wicked glare while the boy was distracted picking up rose petals off the ground.

"Oh my glob! Let me help you with that!" She knelt down and frantically scooped the rose petals into a nearby empty box.

"Oh it is quite alright... Fiona. There is no need. I have plenty of time."

"Yes Ms. Keadersen, this really couldn't be better timing!" Mr. Studibudi interjected.

"How is that?" They both asked unison. Bernabon glancing up, and picking a flower petal that had landed on the top of her head. She blushed an even darker shade of pink, rivaling the color of his hair. He smiled.

"Well..." He gestured to the Princely lookalike "Mr. Schweet will be your tutor for math!"

"What?!" Fiona glanced at Mr. Studibudi, then at Bernabon, then Cake. Who stood behind both their heads, she winked at her and gave her a thumbs up.

_How many more people were she going to meet that resembled her old friends? _

* * *

After Fiona and Bernabon had picked up all the remaining petals, with the help of Cake and Mr. Studibudi, Fiona apologized profusely one last time, and waved a brief goodbye to Bernabon Schweets and Mr. Studibudi as they left.

While walking down the sidewalk, Cake stared expectantly at Fiona. She responded by pretending to take no notice of her.

"Fion-a-a-a-a." Cake began.

"Yes?" Glancing sideways at her, try to pay her the least amount of attention possible.

"He li-i-i-i-kes you." Cake giggled and squished her hands against her cheeks.

As much as Fiona loved this Cake, and all she had done for her, the scene as well as the woman before her reminded her too much of what she had left behind in Aaaa. But looking back isn't going to help be get back! She thought. And like she had responded to Cake in the past, she replied.

"No, Cake. He doesn't like me. He just met me, and it is his job as the Class President as well as my new math tutor to make me feel welcome. Don't interpret his friendliness, as trying to flirt."

"Whatever you say Honey, all I know as that as soon as you too were in the same room together, all the hair on the back of my neck began to stick straight up, and the last time that happened, was the day that I met my fiancé, Mon."

Ah yes, Cake's elusive Mon, no doubt this world's version of Lord Monochromicorn. She thought. She had never officially met Cake's night in shining armor, but she did know that he was a famous linguist, who traveled around their world and deciphered long lost languages and codes. She had promised a visitation and introduction before the end of the year. _If I am here that long... _

"Alright Cake, whatever you say." She sighed as they passed through the formal entrance gates of Vincent Academy on to the street.

Cake clapped her hands together. "Well now that we have that settled, we have shopping to do." Cake waved frantically attempting to hail a taxi.

"Oh dear."

* * *

For the next three hours Cake hauled Fiona around the city, taking her from shop to shop, picking out shoes, socks, and various other accessories every girl needed (well at least Cake thought they needed) to start her first day of high school. The shopping spree finally ended at Cake's favorite beauty parlor, that served Champaign and chocolate-covered strawberries to their guests while they had their hair styled.

"Cake, I don't like this..." Fiona growled as the veteran hairstylist who smelled like expensive perfume and artichokes picked out pieces of her hair with a fine comb, smeared them with strong-smelling goop, and wrapped them individually in tiny pieces foil.

"Hmm?" She replied innocently, as she sat cross-legged while she flipped through a thick magazine balanced on one knee, and held a bubbly flute of champaign in the other.

Fiona raised her eyebrow and smirked. Cake shrugged casually. "You have to look good on your first day of school. Vincent Academy is not the sort of place that you can walk into wearing last year's trends." She paused, sipping from the flute, then continued. "You seem to be quite the fighter. I want you to think of the things you wear, and the way you present yourself from now on as a sort of battle gear. Preparing you for any emergency that might befall you in the hallways."

"But Cake, it surely can't be that bad..." Fiona began.

Cake's face darkened. "Fiona, the children that attend this school are the sons and daughters of millionaires... Billionaires even! They have lived in their ivory towers their entire lives. Unaware of the pain and suffering of the rest of the world. We have seen what it is like, we know how to defend ourselves with our fists, but these children fight with their brand names, and designer jewelry. I am not doing this to torture you... Well, maybe just a little, but I can't help it, you are just so cute!" She confessed.

"I am doing this to give you a fighting chance. A chance I never had when I went to school there. Fiona, it may sound weird, and I know we haven't known each other for a long time, but I feel like we were sisters in a past life, or something crazy like that..."

Not too far off... Fiona thought.

"Oh Cake, I am sorry for doubting you. Please forgive me!"

"Of course I will Honey! I couldn't even if I tried real hard."

* * *

That evening, after a delicious dinner of pizza and ice cream or "pre-game day food" as Cake called it. Fiona was sitting in her newly assigned room, which happened to be the one she had first woken up in a few weeks earlier. At that moment, she was staring through the windows, at the amazing sky line of the city, thinking of her old home.

There was a knock at her door. "Fi... are you busy Baby?"

"No Cake, I am never too busy for you."

"Okay sugar, I am coming in."

Cake pushed open the door and walked in, the entire time keeping her hands behind her back.

"Fi, I have a little present for you." She announced.

"Oh Cake, you have already done so much for me today, and I will never be able to repay all of your kindness..."

"Oh shush you. I didn't get this big, cushy writing job to make money that was just going to sit in some man's bank. I work hard enough for it, and I might as well spend it on something besides take out and bad movie reels."

Earlier that week, Cake had confessed to Fiona that she was a closet old film geek, and she spent many blissful hours on the internet tracking down rare film reels, that she would play in her secret theater that one could only get to by traversing through her enormous closet, and tapping on the far wall, then after entering a secret passcode. '1-2-3-4' as Fiona has recently discovered.

"Anyways, I want you to have this." Cake shoved two small packages wrapped in silver paper, tied with long, white bows into her lap.

Fiona opened the packages, making sure she didn't rip the paper, but instead folded it neatly, and placed it aside. The first package contained a phone with matching chibi bunny case, bunny charm, and headphones to go along with it.

"This way I you can call me if anything happens, also you can get the numbers of any cute boys you meet." Cake winked at her. "You can put music on it if you want." She continued as Fiona unlocked the screen, and flipped through the impressive music selection Cake had taken the liberty of filling it up with. "I put on a little bit of everything on there, so there is no bias to my personal musical tastes."

The second package was a little larger than the first, and much lighter. Fiona pulled off the lid and peered inside. It was a fluffy, white cloth. Cake shook with excitement.

"Go on! Try it on!" She urged her.

Fiona pulled the fabric from the box, and realized that it was a loosely-knit white beanie. She walked over to her closet, and looked at the mirror on the opposite side of the closet door. She tried to put it on, but she had no idea how to wear a beanie. Expecting it to be like other hats, she pulled it right on top of her head. It covered her eyes. Making her world go dark.

"Uh... Cake, I am not too sure I am doing this right."

Cake chuckled, and walked over to her. "You silly girl. You put it on like this." Cake slid the beanie back on her scalp, letting some of her professionally highlighted hair fall back on to her face. Cake continued to tweak it for another ten seconds or so before stepping back to admire her handy work.

"Perfect. Well, see for yourself." She stepped aside, and let Fiona gaze into the mirror. Two small bunny ears had been worked into the pattern of her cap.

"I just happened to see it at one of the boutiques today while you were trying on clothes in the dressing room." Cake confessed. "It just reminded me of you, but I can't tell you why exactly."

Big wet tears began to roll down Fiona's cheeks. "Oh Cake! I am so lucky to have you!"

She hugged Cake tightly and sobbed. Sobbing for the old, and the new.

* * *

She smoothed her plaid blue and white uniform skirt and straightened her tie and buttoned collar. She looked in the mirror. Something was missing. She had replicated the makeup like the way the woman had instructed her to, albeit a little bit lighter than the woman had done. She checked her backpack. She had her notebooks, pens, pencils, calculator, she also threw in her white bunny beanie for good measure. Knowing hats were prohibited on campus, but she could wear it on her way to and from school. The hat made her feel powerful. It reminded her of the way things used to be. She also unplugged her phone from its charger and slipped it into a side pocket of her green backpack before she forgot it.

She took one last look in the mirror. Checking she had put everything on. Academy required standard Penny loafers? Check. Navy blue knee high socks? Check. Academy issued plaid skirt? Check. White long sleeve button up with black tie? Check. Navy blue knit sweater vest (two sizes too big courtesy of her begging and pleading Cake for better part of twenty minutes while shopping)? Check.

"That's it!" She shrieked as she dove for the scrap of ribbon she had carefully folded last night, and placed in her bedside drawer.

She looped the ribbon around the base of her hairline, and tied it in a perfectly symmetrical floppy bow on the top of her head. She tilted her head to the side and took in her new addition to her outfit.

"Fiona, you are going to be late!" Cake called from the kitchen.

"Okay Cake, I will be right down!" Fiona gave one last twirl in front of the mirror, nodded in agreement, grabbed her lime green backpack, and ran out the door.

"No need to run! And were do you think you're going? You can't skip breakfast on your first day! Especially when I got up so damn early to make it!" Cake called after her.

"Oh Cake!" Fiona sighed as she ran back into the kitchen, grabbed a burnt pancake from the stack of its fellow burned brethren, squeezed Cake tight with thanks, and then ran out the door.

"First day of High School here I come!"


	3. The First Day Part I

**Chapter 3**

"Hey man, did you hear? We have a transfer student in our class." Jake grinned at Finn and wiggled his eyebrows.

"That's pretty cool man, but I doubt to see how it has anything to do with us..." Finn replied, as he shoved his headphones back in his ears, and slipped his hands into the pockets of his navy blue sweater in an attempt to avoid any further conversation on the matter.

"Aw man, you're no fun!" Jake punched him in the arm. "What if it is a girl?"

"So? What if it is? How does it affect you? You already have Rainbow, remember?" Finn replied warily and smacked his shorter friend on the head with his knuckles.

Rainbow was the daughter of some hippie-turned-yuppy environmentalist who now spoke at worldwide "Save the Planet" conventions speaking on a variety of subjects from Global Warming to 'Save the Whales'. Rain was a year ahead of them, but Jake had met her during a football game last fall, and after a few awkward dates- which Finn wasn't allowed to tag along on- they had made it official this spring. Finn was happy for his bro, but now that he spent so much time with Rainbow doing gross couple things like holding hands, it left less time for them to hang like they used to.

"Oh no! Me and my lady are doing just fine, but I was thinking about you..."

They were interrupted by a frantic crunching of leaves behind them, which was followed by a blond and white blur. They moved out of the way just in time so neither of them where pushed over by it.

"Sorry!" A sweet, feminine voice called as it flew between them.

"What was that?" Jake asked.

"That, my bro, is our new transfer student." Finn smiled, and continued walking towards the front gates of the campus while Jake took a moment to absorb it all in.

"I told you it was a girl! You owe me five bucks!" Jake shouted as he ran to catch up with Finn.

"You lying dog! I never bet you anything about the transfer student a few minutes ago!"

"Haha. Yeah, I know, but I was worth a shot." He yelled as he ran towards the main gates as the five minute bell rang, warning that class was going to start soon. "Come on Finn! We are going to be late!"

* * *

Of all the days to be late, why did she have to be late on her first day?

Fiona charged blindly down the hallways, trying desperatley to locate her homeroom.

"Why today? Why today? Why to...Ooof!"

She wasn't paying attention to what was in front of her, and hit something solid, and hard. She fell backwards, landing painfully on her rear end.

"Hey! Watch it freshie!" A gruff voice barked as she rubbed her aching rump, and looked up.

A very tall, lanky, dark haired boy with a mostly unbuttoned white uniform shirt, and loose black tie scowled at her. His hands shoved into the pockets his un-ironed black slacks.

"You are you calling a freshie, Dracula?" Fiona spat back before she could stop herself.

"Who are you calling 'Dracula', you snot-nosed punk! I have pounded freshies for a lot less than that!" He shouted back at her, his hands crumpling into fists at his side as she got up.

"Well then, joke's on you, Dracula, because I am a third year student."

"Oh Fiona! What are you doing out here?! You're homeroom is on the other side of the school!" Bernabon called as he jogged towards her, his bubblegum pink hair bouncing in time with his steps.

"Oh no, here comes Mr. Class President..." The dark haired boy muttered, and turned to make a quick escape.

"Oh no you don't Marshall, you get back here!" Bernabon grabbed Fiona's hand and pulled her along as he closed on on Marshall, bringing his escape attempt to a quick end.

"Oh and how are we today, Bubba?" Marshall turned around to face his foe, addressing him in a mockingly polite tone as he exaggerated a regal bow.

"First you are late for class, which is inexcusable for someone who has attended Vincent Academy as long as you have. Second, you are out of dress code." Bernabon pausing to take in Marshall's complete outfit, seeming to check off a mental list of all the dress code rules Marshall was breaking at the moment. "And third, you are harassing the new transfer student."

"Oh! So this is the much-talked about 'Transfer student'."

Marshall emphasized the words 'transfer student' with interest, peering around Bernabon, and staring hungrily at Fiona. Almost as if she were a lobster in a small cage being displayed for his selection before being walked back into the kitchen to be cooked. She didn't like the way he looked at her. He glanced down at her left hand, which was still clasped in Bernabon's. He snickered at her, and she immediately dropped his hand. Bernabon looked back at her for a split second after she had released his hand. Did he look hurt? No, she was probably just imagining it. The bell rang, announcing the start of homeroom.

"Don't change the subject, Marshall." Bernabon continued. "As the new Class President, it is my duty to..."

"Alright, alright. I feel ya. I'll get to class." Marshall interrupted. As he turned his back to them, and began walking cooly down the hallway. "Bye Fiona, it really was fun meeting you!" He called and wiggled his fingers at her, then he shoved them back into his pockets.

Bernabon glared at him until Marshall turned, and disappeared down the hallway. He sighed, closed his eyes, and pinched the sides of his nose with his thumb, and pointer finger. "I really don't know what I am going to do with that boy..."

He opened his eyes and shot her one of his princely smiles. "Sorry about what he said. Most of us have gone to Vincent since we were in kindergarden, it is unusual when we get transfer students, so people have a tendency to gossip."

"Oh no man, I understand." Fiona shrugged, although she really didn't. She just said it to make him feel better.

"Come on, we better get you to class. Where is your homeroom?"

"Don't you know? You said it was on the other side of the building."

Bernabon blushed. "Oh yes, well... Like I said, we don't get transfer students, so I was interested in your schedule..." He paused. "I mean, I was interested in who your math teacher would be, because that can help me determine what you will most likely to need help with when we need meet for tutoring. Also, it is my duty as the Class President to take care of all my students." He continued hurriedly.

"Well that was very sweet of you, Bernabon."

"Oh please, call me Bubba."

"Oh, okay." She hesitated. "I didn't know if I could. I mean when that boy, Marshall called you by that name earlier, you seemed to be really upset."

"I only let friends call me Bubba. That boy is not a friend."

_I'm considered Bernabon's friend..._ She thought excitedly.

"Hey, while I am here, would you like a quick tour of the campus?"

"Oh, well... I don't know. I mean I am already late to class... And won't I get into trouble like that other guy?"

"To be honest, I don't know why I even try with that boy anymore. He never actually attends class. The only reason that he is here is because his mom... Oh never mind. Anyways, would it make more sense for you to be late to one class, to take the time to tour around campus, or be late to every class for a week trying to find your classes?"

"I guess the first one..." She replied shyly.

"Excellent." He clapped his hands together with excitement.

For the next 45 minutes, Bubba toured Fiona around the vast Vincent Academy Campus. Their last stop: The Library. Fiona gasped as he pushed open the enormous doors to reveal an expansive library, bigger than any one she had even seen before, even Prince Gumball's.

"The Vincent Memorial Library is one of the Crown Jewels of VA's campus. It is the third largest private library in existence. We have more original scripts than any other..."

"Scripts on what?" Fiona interrupted Bubba's tour, but she had to know.

"Well, everything..." He paused, and looked around to see if anyone was in earshot, but everything was silent, and the room empty.

"Some people even say that there are some ancient spell books that have the ability to take you to another world..." He whispered quickly in her ear.

Fiona's ears perked up.

"But that is only just urban myth." He continued.

Urban myth or not, Fiona was going to spend some time in this library checking it out. It was the first promise to a ticket home she had encountered while she had been stranded in this world, she couldn't just let it slip by her without trying something.

* * *

"Well here we are..."

Fiona and Bubba stood facing each other outside of her second period classroom.

"Thank you for your very informative tour. I think I will be able to navigate my way through these hallways better than most forth year students."

Bubba blushed. She thought about how cute he looked. _No Fiona, you can't do this to yourself, to him._

"Oh Fiona! Before I forget..." Bubba turned his head, and dug his phone out of his back pocket. She giggled. It was a cotton candy pink phone that almost matched the bubble gum color of his hair, and a pink and white cupcake with rainbow sprinkles as his phone charm.

"Could I have your number?" He bushed a deeper shade of pink. "Uh... I mean I will only use it to plan out our tutoring schedule, and contact you if it is academically related..."

"Of course." She was a little let down that he would only be texting her for 'strictly academically related purposes', but still at least she would have one number besides Cake in her contacts.

They exchanged phones, and put in their numbers.

"Oh Fiona, one more thing!"

"Yes?"

"Uh... well... I like to have pictures to correspond to the contacts in my phone, would you mind taking a... what do they call it... a... uh... 'selfie' if I am using the proper terminology... with me." He gestured to himself.

Now it was her turn to blush. "Oh, well. Yeah. Okay." She had always made fun of LSP for posting so many 'selfies' back home in Aaaa, but she didn't mind taking one with Bubba.

"Great." He perked up.

He moved to stand next to her, and held the phone above their heads.

"You can move in a little closer ya know..." He mocked her. She straightened the white bow in her hair, and he flashed the phone his dazzling white grin. Right before the flash went off, he stretched out his arm, and pulled her into his chest.

He stepped back, and examined the photo. "Perfect." She blinked, slightly dazed from the flash of the phone.

"Do you want me to send it to you?"

"Sure. Thank you."

"No problem. But now, we better get you to class." He held the door of the room labeled 'CHEMISTRY' open for her. He followed her in.

All at once Fiona could feel 26 sets of eyes on her. Bubba stood right behind her. Making her feel a little better.

"Ms. B, this is Fiona, she is the new transfer student. I am sorry she is late, but she got a little lost while trying to get to class. The campus is pretty big and all." Bubba explained.

A woman with long brown hair, small spectacles, and a long white lab coat looked up from her attendance sheet and smiled.

"Well of course. You must be Fiona! Well I was wondering where you ran off to! Well, today is our first day of Labs, and we have already picked partners... I guess you will have to be a threesome with someone...Uh... let me see..." Ms. B ran her pencil down the list of names on the attendance sheet. "Oh yes. Well why don't I assign you to be partnered with Finn and Jake over there. They are the top students in this class, and they will be able to answer any questions you have."

Fiona looked up. Sure enough a short, golden-haired boy with lots of piercing in his ears, and a yellow hoodie waved frantically at Fiona. Across the table from him sat a boy with white-blond hair, blue eyes, and a big slouchy sweater. He looked down at the table, avoiding eye contact with Fiona.

"Mr. Jake, I will not tell you again to take off that blasted yellow sweatshirt. If I see it again, it is detention for a week for being out of dress code!" Ms. B called to the waving boy.

"Woops, sorry Ms. B!" Jake called to her as he unzipped his hoodie and shoved it under his lab stool.

"Good luck Fiona. I will see you 'round." Bubba whispered in her ear, and squeezed her shoulders.

"Yeah, see ya."

As Fiona walked to the lab station, she felt extremely isolated and naked. She had watched plenty of TV showas Cake had recomended in an attempt to get her ready for high school life, but none of them covered it. Trying to put her best foot forward, she smiled and introduced herself to her new lab partners.

"Hi! I am Fiona!"

"Hi Fiona! My name is Jake, and this sulky boy over here." Jake gestured towards the boy looking down on the table. "Is Fin, and he would be very pleased to meet you if he took those damned headphones out!" Jake smacked Finn, waking him from his 'trance'.

"OW JAKE! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT..." Finn trailed off after he realized he was not alone.

"Oh hi there!" Finn said. Finally looking up from the table. Jake snickered. Finn kicked him from underneath the table, never breaking his polite smile he offered to Fiona.

_Yeah, she was going to be just fine with this bunch..._

The lab was easy enough, Fiona had done harder ones in her sleep while assisting Gumball, but what killed her were the math problems. So while she and Jake measured out the substances, and took measurements and observations, Finn worked out the complex equations.

"Dude, I can honestly say that our butts would be toast without you here!" Jake beamed.

"Totally!" Fiona smiled at him. Finn blushed at the praise Fiona had given him, so he bent his head down so his nose was only centimeters from the table top, and continued to scribble out the solutions.

Fiona had Jake in her third period French class, and both Finn and Jake in her English class. As the bell rang to notify them that fourth period had ended, Jake pulled his chair up next to Fiona, who was furiously scribbling down the last bits of the lectures notes for _The Odyssey_ before their teacher wiped the board.

"So Fiona, what are you going to do about Lunch?" Jake stared at her intently as Finn stood behind him, itching to go.

"Oh, well. I was just going to stop by the library and..."

Jake mimicked a buzzing sound like on a gameshow. "Ehhhhhth...Wrongo! You are going to come eat lunch with the fabulous Finn and Jake duo." Jake jumped on top of her desk, and laid across it, posing like a model, with an arm jutting artistically out at an unnatural angle.

"Well I really..." She began.

"Tut, tut. There will be no more discussion on the matter." He grinned and winked at her.

"Jake, come on! I want to get some pancakes before they sell out!" Finn interrupted.

"Then it is settled!" Jake stood on the table, and jumped down onto the floor and offered her his hand. "Ms. Fiona will come with us, and partake in the luncheon feast!"

"Did you say... PANCAKES?" Fiona grinned at Finn. He returned the smile.

_Maybe this Fiona girl wasn't all so bad. _

* * *

During the syrup-covered frenzy that made up lunch time, Fiona received a text from Bubba. It was the picture he had promised, and an accompanying message that read

**"Hope your first day goes great. Want to meet after school for coffee while we discuss possible tutoring schedules?"**

She replied: **"Yes, where should I meet you?"**

Finn and Jake looked over her shoulder.

"Fiona, are you telling me that you one: Have Mr. Prince Charming's number, and two: He texted you first?"

"Yeah, what about it?" She responded nonchalantly.

Finn and Jake exchanged glances, then looked back at her.

"Getting that boy's number is more elusive than rooster teeth, and to top it all off, HE texted you first." Jake began.

_They were beginning to sound like Cake._

"Why are you sitting with us losers? You could be Vincent Academy Royalty if you wanted. The proof of that text message is proof enough of your regal status." Finn teased.

Fiona rolled her eyes as she held down the picture, and saved it to her phone. Ignoring the two she sat across from as they acted out multiple scenarios in which Class President Bernabon Schweet confessed his love for Fiona. Fin always playing the part of Bernabon, while Jake pretended to be an overly dramatic, high voiced Fiona.

"Hey Finn, do you think we could get some street cred at this school by saying that we once ate lunch with VA Royalty?"

"Probs dude..."

* * *

After Fiona had said her goodbyes to her new buds and exchanged numbers, she stood outside the doorway of her math class.

"This is all going to be okay. You got this girl! You just gotta... go in..." She sighed.

She opened the door right as the bell rang.

There was no one else in the room besides one, solitary figure who looked out the window with his back turned to her...

She sucked in air, thanking the gods that she had not closed the door yet.

_If I just walk backwards slowly, he will have never known I was here... I mean... who needs math anyways?_

Her back bumped into something soft and squishy. She turned to find herself staring eye to eye with a fat, balding, middle-aged man in a windbreaker and a football jersey.

"Well, well, well. Trying to skip class aren't we?" The man honked in a nasally voice.

"No. Why would I do that?"

"Well, that is the only possible explanation I can think of seeing as to you are trying to silently back out of the room without anyone noticing after the bell has rung."

She stared at the man speechless. He didn't understand what he was going to make her do.

"Sit down Ms. Kaedersen. I dealt with your aunt so many long years ago, I will have no problem breaking you like I broke her..."

Fiona gulped.

Marshall looked over to the doorway where Fiona and the teacher stood.

"Well if it isn't my old friend Fiona..." He smiled.

Stuck with the only boy in school she had managed to piss off on her first day, and a teacher with a personal vendetta against her legal guardian...

_Oh Cake, what have you done? _


	4. The First Day Part II

**Chapter 4 **

"Well since this is the first day of my class for both of you, I think I will start out by introducing myself... My name is Coach Algebra, but you can just call me Coach."

He walked over to his desk, set his papers and laptop down, and walked over to the board and wrote out 'Coach Algebra'. Then underlined it several times for emphasis.

"You two are here in my class because you are too stupid to be in the regular classes." The words 'too stupid' shot an arrow through the kernel of confidence she had mustered as she walked into class. Coach paused his introduction to glare at Marshall, who was currently staring out the window with his headphones in.

"Mr. Lee, is there some reason that you are not paying attention to my introduction? If you decide to show up to class, the least you can do is feign attentiveness."

Marshall pulled the pair of headphones out of his ears and began to twirl them around. "Woops! Sorry Coachie! I am all ears." He replied, using the same mockingly polite voice and smile he had used earlier that day when he was apologizing to Bubba.

"I'd give you detention if I could somehow guarantee you would show up..." Coach grumbled."Alright, well let's not waste anymore time doddeling! Pull out your textbooks and let's start from chapter one."

Fiona spent the next twenty minutes furiously scribbling down everything Coach wrote down on the board. _Glob... I will never be able to get up to speed. _Then Bubba flashed in her mind. _Well, maybe I will..._

Coach left them the remaining class time to work on their homework. Fiona pulled out her phone from its hiding place in her lime green backpack, plugged in the matching bunny headphones, and began clicking through her enormous music library. She heard the squeaking of a desk across the wood floors. She looked up to see Marshall looking intently at her.

"Hey..." He began.

She looked up at him, and then looked back down at her phone. Choosing to ignore him.

"What do you have there?" He grabbed her phone from her hands, and began flipping through her music.

"Hey Dracula, give me back my phone!" She lunged at him from her seat, but he blocked her with one hand. He was a lot stronger than he looked.

"So good little girl likes _Metallica_ and _Nirvana_?" He smirked.

"Who and who?" She had given up trying to get her phone back, and decided to start on her homework without musical accompaniment. The whole time Coach never even glanced up from his copy of _Sports Illustrated_.

Marshall looked up from her phone with horror. "Are you telling me that you don't know who either of those bands are?" Fiona shook her head no.

"Well then, you have some homework..."

"And why would I want to listen to anything a member of the living dead such as you would recommend?"

"Trust me. I am in a band, I know this sort of stuff." He replied as he tore a sheet of lined paper from her math notebook, and began to scrawl out names, artists, and years.

_Who was this boy? Did he not remember her from this morning?_

"It's called The Scream Kings..." Marshall said nonchalantly as he continued to scribble down names.

"What?" His comment had snapped her from her daydream.

"The name of my band, we're called The Scream Kings. You should come see us sometime. It can get pretty crazy..." He glanced over at her, sizing her up. "But something about you tells me that you would be just fine." He dotted the last i on his list, folded it up into fours, and handed it to her. She snatched the paper, and began to crinkle it open. He grabbed it back along with her phone he had surrendered during their squabble.

"Not yet!" He wiggled a finger at her like she was a naughty child, and he was her over-indulgent babysitter. "You are only allowed to read the list after school gets out, that way I am well gone, and you can't bug me with your questions until after you have listened to some of the bands."

"Okay, I will respect your wishes..."

"It's best if you do." He interrupted.

"BUT. I don't understand why you have taken my phone again."

He glanced down at the forgotten phone in his hand. "Oh yes... Well, I am going to give you my number so I can tell you when the next show is." He pulled out his own phone from his pocket, and exchanged their numbers, using both his thumbs to type in the names and numbers simultaneously.

"But we will see each other everyday in class. Can't you tell me about it then?"

"Good little girl, that would require me coming to class on a regular basis..."

Coach glanced up from his magazine.

"Which we both know isn't going to happen..." He whispered.

She smiled. _Well I guess he isn't so bad. _

* * *

The bell had rung, excusing her from the torture of remedial algebra.

"I expect you to have the first three albums downloaded, and listened to by the next time we meet." Marshall whispered in her ear on the way out the door.

"But when will that be?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk away from her. "I guess you will just have to start ASAP. Who knows where and when I might show up! See ya round Fiona!"

She rolled her eyes. _Cocky bastard... You remind me of someone. _

Just then, her phone began to vibrate. It was a text message from Bubba. She unlocked the phone to reply.

**Bubba**: Can I just come and meet you outside of your last period?

**Fiona**: Are you sure? (-｡-;

**Bubba**: It would be my pleasure.

Fiona blushed. _Why am I blushing? He is just meeting with me to discuss a tutoring schedule... Fiona, get a hold of yourself, or else you will turn into one of those stupid girls that fangirl over Prince Gumball back home..._

She shook herself. _Home, yes I need to get back home. _

She responded.

**Fiona**: Okay. That would be perfect! Thank you ^.^

"Are you popular, or are you popular?" Jake teased.

She spun around to see Finn and Jake standing behind her. Jake, who had once again dawned the out-of-dress-code yellow zip up hoodie, shot her a peace sign balanced beneath his eyebrows and stuck his tongue out. Finn looking slightly bored, being used to his friend's hi jinx, looked around at the bustling hallways filled with quick-footed underclassmen, and lazily slouching fourth years.

"Not only have you won the number of the elusive Prince, but you have also managed to befriend the Vampire Don. AND ALL ON YOUR FIRST DAY!"

She began walking, and Finn and Jake fell in line. "The Vampire Don?"

"Oh yeah, hasn't anyone told you that Marshall's mother is the leader of the Methuselah Gang? And that the only reason that VA even keeps him here, is partly due to his mother's lavish donations, and partly to the intimidation of his body guards and entourage?"

"Methuselah Gang?" She choked. _The men from that first night... They said they were Methuselah... _She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Entourage? Body guards?" She gasped. "I've never seen any..."

"Aww yeah, well he's persuaded them to leave him alone when he goes to school. God only knows how he managed that, but you should see before and after school. He has a line of body guards and a limo waiting to carry him to and from that expensive house of his up on Night Hill, Jake pointed in the direction of the hill. My feeling is when he is not at school, he is under heavy surveillance."

_I wonder how he is able to squeeze in band practice with all this security... _

The bell rang. She looked around, but the hallways were empty with the exception of Finn and Jake.

"Crap, what do I do now?" She moaned. "Bernabon won't be able to get me out of my second late class today."

"What class do you have next?" Finn asked.

"PE, but I am still a little lost..."

"WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO? Finn and I have that class next too! What was your last class period?" Jake interrupted.

"Remedial Algebra..." She replied hesitantly.

"Perfect!" He flung his arms out, his piercings jingling against one another with excitement. "Coachie there always has his nose plastered in some issue of Sports Illustrated, we can just say we were talking to him, and that is why we are late getting to class."

"But don't we need a note or something?" Finn asked shyly.

"That's the beauty of it Finn, my bro! He never pays attention, so he never writes us notes. Mrs. Muscles will just have to take our word for it! But I warn you, this is a one time deal, we can't use this as an excuse again, or someone might get wise."

They nodded. "Deal."

"Okay, perfect!" Jake sang as he danced down the hallway to the locker rooms.

* * *

PE was a breeze. Mrs. Muscles -yes that was her actual name, no joke- took Fiona to the uniform room to issue her VA's standard Navy blue running shorts, and white T-shirt with "Vincent Academy Athletics" sprawled across the chest in blue university script. Meanwhile, Muscles made the rest of the class run laps. There were only three other girls in the period, so finding a locker was no problem. She changed into the uniform, and jogged out to the track where the rest of her class was still running laps. She fell into step with the back group which consisted of Finn, Jake, and the girls of the class, but she found that she was outrunning them without even trying. So she moved up to the next fastest group of runners, but they were still too slow. Finally she pulled in front of the pace setter.

"Good job Ms. Keadersen! Keep up the good work!" Mrs. Muscles called from the starting line of the track as she passed it for her third, and final time. It took another 45 seconds for the previous pacer, and then another 5 minutes for Finn and Jake to pass the finish line. Years of adventuring had left her in top physical condition, so she would probably be able to take anything that Mrs. Muscles could throw at her.

"What are you? Are you some secret government experiment? Did you even break a sweat?!" Jake heaved, as he stood doubled over, trying to catch his breath. Fiona turned her attention to Finn who wasn't winded at all, in fact she thought he could have probably kept up with her, but she assumed that he didn't want to leave his "bro" behind, so he trotted beside Jake's panted sprints.

Jake perked up as a girl with long, jet black hair, and large doughy eyes winked at him as he strutted by him in her too tight PE uniform shirt and pants. Her arms covered with strands upon strands of expensive-looking rainbow beaded bracelets.

"Well, if you will excuse me, my lady calls." Jake winked, slicked back his golden blond hair, and trotted after the girl like a lovestruck puppy.

Fiona looked at Finn, who simply shook his head. "That's Jakes 'long term senior girlfriend', Rainbow. He insisted on us taking this class because it is one of the few that third years can take with fourth years. I'm sorry, sometimes he does stupid stuff like that, but he is really a great guy."

Fiona giggled. "Oh it's no problem. You don't have to apologize. My errr..." Her mind flashed to Cake and Lord Monochromicorn. "I used to know somebody like that. Trust me, it doesn't bother me." Her heart hurt a little at the memory.

"Are you sure?"

Before she could respond, a loud whistle was blown. Mrs. Muscles barked "Okay ladies and gents, today we will be continuing our fencing unit. I trust that you will behave yourself, and I won't have to give anyone detention for goofing around like we did last week." She glared at Jake in particular, who shrugged as Rainbow giggled. Her beaded bracelets tinkling as she smacked him playfully in the arm as they walked inside the main gym. "Split into pairs, grab a foil, and we will get started through the basic movements."

Fiona looked shyly at Finn. "Do you have a partner?"

"Oh no, I have mostly been the third wheel this year." He glanced over at Jake and Rainbow. "I would be delighted to be your partner if that is what you are asking." He grinned. "But I am going to tell you now, I will not go easy on you because you are a girl."

"Perfect." She grinned.

They exchanged glances before bolting for the storage room where the foils and masks were kept.

Finn was true to his word. He did not go easy on her. She was still better than him, but with some more practice, she wasn't so sure. By the time Mrs. Muscles blew her whistle to tell them to pack up their gear, and head back to the locker rooms, they were both out of breath and sweaty. Mrs. Muscles stopped them on their way out of the practice room.

"Have you two ever considered joining the fencing club?"

They looked at each other. "Club?" Fiona began.

"Yea, Bernabon Schweet is starting it up again. It was part of his campaigning last year. He promised to start more clubs to help the student body become more active in their school."

"Well, we'll think about it..." Finn replied, as he pushed Fiona through the door, attempting to escape from Mrs. Muscle's questions.

"There are some flyers posted on the bulletin board if you are interested!" She called to them as an afterthought while they walked towards the locker rooms.

Fiona quickly changed back into her school uniform and pulled her hair from its pony tail. I wish I had time to take a shower, but I shouldn't keep Bubba waiting. She looked into the mirror, and stood up a little taller.

"Here, use these!" Rainbow thew a package of wet wipes at Fiona.

"T-t-t-t-hank you..." She stuttered.

Rainbow stood half-dressed, looking at a small mirror on the door of her locker, touching up her makeup.

"You may be wondering why I am doing this. Well, to be honest, any friend of Jake is a friend of mine. And since you are new here, and the fact that Jake doesn't make friends that easily, even after knowing them for a while, you must really be something special." She looked up from her mirror and smiled at Fiona.

Fiona gingerly pulled out one of the wet wipes, and pressed it to her face. Not knowing exactly what to do. Rainbow looked up again, and giggled like she had earlier when she was with Jake.

"Oh here, let me help you."

After Rainbow worked some of her magic, Fiona walked out of the locker room looking, and smelling better than she had walking in. Finn and Jake were waiting outside the girls locker room for them.

"Hey there Lady! You wanna grab something to eat?" Jake wrapped his arm possessively around his tall, skinny girlfriend. She responded by looping her bracelet covered arms around his short waist. "Only if we can being Finn and Fiona along!" Jake sulked for a millisecond, before jumping back into his happy-go-lucky puppy-like personality.

"Of course! Fin, Fiona, do you want to come with?"

"Naw man, I have practice to get to!" Finn waved goodbye, and departed hurriedly from their group.

"And Ms. Fiona has an appointment with me." She whirled around. Bubba was standing behind her.

"Sorry I am late, but I had to talk to someone about scheduling a meeting." He shot her a princely smile. Her knees felt like they were turning to jello.

"Oh, well if that is the case!" Jake said a little too quickly. "I guess Rain and I will be on our way." Jake clasped Rainbow's hand in his and ran away, both of them giggling like little fools as they disappeared down the hallway.

"Well then, now that that matter has been taken care of... Shall we?" He offered her his arm.

"I would be delighted." She blushed.


	5. Questions

**Chapter 5: Questions**

Fiona felt eyes on her as she passed down the cool, dark hallways. The hiss of whispers. "Who is that?" and "What is she doing with Bernabon?" frequented her as she passed various groups of girls, both older and younger while walking arm and arm with Bernabon down the hallways. She stiffened, and held her head a little higher.

_I guess this is what Cake was warning me about... _

"I know this perfect little cafe... Not too far from here, that sells the most wonderful frosted cherry blossom cupcakes." Bubba interrupted her train of thought. "Do you mind walking?"

She shook her head 'no'.

* * *

The moment Fiona stepped off of VA's campus she breathed a heavy sigh of relief, now she was free from the penetrating eyes of the whispering hoards. After a few moments of silence Bubba stopped. Releasing his arm from hers. Half of her was relieved to be rid of the attention that came with his physical contact, but the other was disappointed.

"Fiona..." He began, looking at her intently.

"Yes?" She looked up at him. She had never noticed that his eyebrows were dyed the same bubble gum pink as his hair._ Talk about authenticity... _

"Uh... well, uh... How was your day?" He stuttered. Deciding to divert from the original question he was going to ask her.

She smiled. He really was very sweet, even if he was a little awkward around her.

"It was fine. I made some friends."

"Good, good, good." He replied absentmindedly, starting to walk again, but not takingher arm in his again.

They walked again in silence for the next two blocks, his designer messenger bag bouncing against his right hip with every step._ Why is he so shy all of a sudden?_

As if reading her mind, he came to a stop at a cross walk as he waited for her to catch up.

'Hey! I have an idea! Let's play twenty questions!" He took her hands in his. Was he always this affectionate to transfer students? _People called him elusive, but there didn't seem to be anything elusive about him when she was around... Weird._

"Uhhh..."

"But let's answer questions about ourselves." He continued.

The crosswalk signaled them it was alright to go, and they fell into step. He matched his longer strides to her smaller ones.

"I'll start. Hmmm..." He rested his knuckle on his chin, posing. He snapped, finally thinking of a question. "Oh yes! Well, why do you always say 'Oh my glob'? I have never heard anyone else say that before. Do they use it where you are from?"

She blushed. She had never really thought about her creative curse before, it had just always seemed natural in Aaaa, but here they must not be used to it.

"Yes, they do use it where I am from. I have just always grown up saying it, so it kinda stuck."

"Oh I see, I just thought it was a cute."

_Did he just call me cute?_ She shook her head. _You're doing it again. Remember: he is your tutor._

"And where are you..."

"Ah. Ah. Ah!" She wagged her finger at him. "I think it is my turn now."

"Oh sorry. I was just a little excited." He glanced shyly in her direction.

"It's fine. Now here is mine. Why is your hair dyed pink?" She reached up, and pulled her fingers through his hair playfully. He smirked.

"Good question. Well.." He looked around, pretending he was making sure no one was around. The sidewalk was empty.

"I just really like the color pink." He whispered in her ear, his breath brushing over her neck, making her shiver.

"But that still doesn't explain why you manage to get away with it."

"Simple, my dear lady." He strode in front of her, and stopped short. "I am the class president, and I can do whatever I want." He made a showy bow to her. He looked up. "It also helps that my parents donate a large amount of money to VA every year."

"So your parents paid for the right tooo that pink hair?"

"Indeed, it seems so." He stood up, and resumed his place next to Fiona, and they began walking.

"Although they are always gone, so they don't get to admire their handiwork. Or should I say their money's handiwork." He grinned, but she could tell that it hurt.

"Where are your parents..."

"Hey! Now you're doing it! Wait your turn!" He interrupted. He looked very sad for a moment when he thought she wasn't looking. _His parents must be a sensitive subject. I better say away from it... Just for the time being. _

"Okay, my turn. Why did you transfer to little ol' Vincent Academy for the sons and daughters of the rich and famous?"

_I'm approaching dangerous territory... Do I give him the cover that Cake gave to me? Or should I stay away from the topic of estranged parents...? _

She continued walking.

"You know, if it is too painful for you, you don't have to talk about it..." He said hurriedly, sensing her sadness and fear.

"Oh no, you're fine!" She waved him away and shot him, what she hoped to be a convincing, smile. "Well, you could say I have a rougher background. You could say I had some problems when I was growing up, so my parents sent me to live with my aunt Cake, and she's really great, I wouldn't trade her for anything in this world." _Well, maybe one thing, a ticket back to my own world. _

Bubba was quiet for a few moments. For once that day, he did not know what to say.

"I know what that is like." Was the only thing he could think of to say. "I really do."

He shoved his hands into his coat pockets, and she shuffled her feet as she walked._ These penny loafers are kind of uncomfortable after long periods of time... _Bright red and yellow Autumn leaves swirled around in miniature tornadoes ahead of them. Fiona felt a stab in her heart. She was lying to Bubba, she was lying to everyone. She didn't have an estranged relationship from her parents, she had never had parents, but Bubba had his once, but now he didn't anymore. They didn't want him. Her's didn't want her either, but at least she had Cake, but Bubba didn't have anyone.

"Here we are." He stopped short and looked up. A vintage neon sign reading 'T & P' blinked above them. "They are a little rough around the edges, but they are kind, and they don't get a lot of business outside of their regulars, like me, so it will be nice and quiet."

"Who are 'they' if you don't mind me asking?"

He smiled, and opened the door, which jingled as it opened. "You'll see in a moment."

Fiona walked in first the wood floor boards squeaked underneath her, and she was met with the smell of cinnamon, apples, and sausages. The shop was sweet enough. Five or so checkered tables with two or three mismatched chairs around each inhabited the main floor. Off to the left side were three small booths with sticky red leather. To the left was a narrow soda fountain with stools covered with the same leather as the booths opposite it, and behind the fountain there was a small grill, and fridge along with other machines that she had never seen before. At each table there was a variety of containers, ranging from worn coffee cups with fades cartoons on the side, to an enormous oriental-style blue and white vase, all held a large wad of fake cherry blossom branches.

"Is that our Bernabon?" A throaty woman's voice with a thick southern accent called from a room behind the soda fountain.

"It is indeed Mrs. Trunks, and I brought a friend with me!" He smiled at Fiona and winked.

She blushed and looked down at the floor. An old woman in a long, creamy yellow dress with a frilly starched white apron toddled out from behind the soda fountain. Her hair was pinned up in a bun with a long, pearl-encrusted comb.

"Oh my, well aren't you the looker!" She hugged Bubba and Fiona respectively, and then took Fiona's hands in her own, and took a step back to inspect her. "I'd keep her if I were you." She said to Bubba in a loud whisper. The two teens blushed.

"I am going to be bringing her here a few times a week to tutor her, if that is alright with you!" Bubba replied.

"Oh well that is just splendid! Mr. P! Come on out here and meet Bernabon's lovely friend!"

There was a grumbling from the back room that Mrs. Trunks had appeared from a few minutes earlier.

"Alright, alright! I'm coming I'm coming!" A old man's voice called. Similar to Mrs. Trunks,

Mr. P was short and wide, but he wore a frosted pink chef's outfit with matching hat. His hair was a dark gray with lighter strips of white at his temples, and his eyebrows were salt and peppered fuzzy caterpillars resting less than an inch from the tops of his eyes with a matching mustache.

"Oh Bernabon! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! You're friend is very lovely!" Fiona blushed again at the man's words.

"Mr. P, Mrs. Trunks, I would like to introduce you to my pupil Fiona Keadersen." Bubba announced presenting a hand to show her off.

"Well if I wasn't 65 years younger, I wouldn't... OUCH!" Mr. P yowled and the blunt end of a nearby mop wielded by Mrs. Trunks met the crown of his head.

"Well it is a good think you aren't! Now stop trying to flirt with Bubba's girl and get back to work!" Mrs. Trunks said playfully.

Fiona and Bubba giggled.

'"Why don't you two have a seat, and I will bring out two out a menu."

"Oh that will be quite alright Mrs. Trunks, I will have the usual, and I would like Fiona to try your world famous apple pie!" Fiona didn't argue with him. Apple pie sounded delicious, she just hopped she had enough money in her wallet to meet the bill, she hadn't seen any prices anywhere, and if rich kids like Bubba came here regularly, the prices might be a bit steep. _Oh right now I wish I had taken up Cake's offer on that credit card, but I just felt so bad spending her money without permission. _

Mrs. Trunks nodded, and headed back to the back room. "Coming right up!" She winked at Bubba as he lead Fiona over to a booth next to the window.

"They really are the sweetest couple..." He began as they sat down.

"Wait? Are they together?" She replied, glancing over her shoulder at the room she had just disappeared into.

"Oh yes. They are both widows. They met about fifteen years ago. She worked at a pastry shop next to a butchers where he worked. He was a bit of a bad apple back then, don't let the pink chef outfit fool you. One night after a particularly rough fight, she found him passed out in an alley way. Rather than call the police, she took him in, and nursed him back to health. They really began to enjoy each other's company, and then after that, he began to call on her, and long story short, they both quit their jobs, and opened up this place!"

"Wow. That's amazing!"

"Yes it is. Now let's see, where were we? Oh yes, I believe it was your turn!" Bubba began.

"Okay, well... I was wondering what you like to do in your free time?" She asked.

He sat there thoughtful for a moment, before replying.

"Well, you are going to think me very strange..." He took a deep breath, as if he were at the top of a roller coaster about to go down. "But I like to bake in my free time." He finished very quickly. He had closed his eyes, and bowed his head lightly, as if expecting her to laugh, but she didn't. He finally looked up. She was beaming.

"Dude, that is so cool. I don't know many guys that cook."

"Exactly, because people think it is girly..." He continued.

"Well do you like doing it?"

"More than almost anything..." He smiled wistfully, staring off into space.

"Then who cares? I don't think it is girly." She smiled at him.

"You're right! Thanks Fiona, most people I tell that to laugh in my face."

"Well I won't." She said shyly.

"Okay, my turn!" He said quietly.

"Order up!" Mr. P called.

Mrs. Trunks scurried over with two plates and two mugs. One plate was a large slice of cinnamon apple pie with a large scoop of thick vanilla ice cream, and the other was a pink cupcake with a fondant replica of a cherry blossom pressed on top. The mugs contained creamy hot chocolate.

"Mr. P says it will warm you up better than coffee in this weather." She explained before leaving them to their game.

"Anyways..." Bubba rolled his eyes playfully, them finally falling back on Fiona. "My question is... Have you ever kissed anyone?"

Fiona blushed. _Did non-humans count in this game? She had kissed Flame Prince when they used to date, but was it really a kiss if you got burned by it?_

She shifted around a little uncomfortably in her seat. "I'm sorry, that was none of my business, I should not have asked such a personal question so quickly." He said, trying to backpedal from the subject.

"No, you're fine! I'm fine... Well, I did kiss a guy once, but we broke up soon afterwards...It wasn't a pretty breakup..." She added. Bubba reached across the table, and held his hand in hers. Lacing his long, delicate fingers through hers. They were warm.

"Well he must have been crazy to let someone as smart, and beautiful as you get away without a fight." He smiled at her. It was a different smile from the ones he had flashed others earlier. This one was sincere, there was no princely flare, just him. This was Bubba's smile, not Bernabon Schweet's, Class President of the prestigious Vincent Academy.

She looked down at the apple pie topped with ice cream. "Well, better not let it melt! It would ruin all of Mrs, Trunks hard work."

Bubba glanced down at his own cupcake, and quickly cooling cocoa. "Yes, you are very right." He started to pull his hand away, but she delicately placed her hand on top of his. So they sat there, both staring down at their meal, but their hands still laying there, her's on top of his.

* * *

She sighed contentedly and settled back in her seat. Bubba did the same. The pie was as good, if not better than promised, and Mr. P was very right about the cocoa. Coffee would have indeed been too bitter to wash the sweet, syrupy pie and ice cream down with.

"I have to hand it to you Mr. Schweet, you sure do know what you are talking about when it comes to pie hit the spot."

"I knew you would like it!"

Suddenly, the bell rang, and Bubba's eyes grew wide with what Fiona could only describe as panic. She turned to see none other than Ms. B, her chemistry teacher, wandering over to the soda fountain counter.

"Oh Bonnebell! It has been so long!" Mrs. Trunks sang.

"Oh, I am sorry I don't have time to stay and chit chat today Mrs. Trunks! But Marcie is flying out tonight at eight, and I was hoping I could send her off with some of your delicious cuisine. Could I have the regular?"

"Oh, I understand. Goodness, does that girl ever stay for more than a couple of weeks before shipping off on tour again?" Mrs. Trunks said worriedly.

"She was at home for two whole months this time, but she promised me that the tour would be ending soon, so she will be back home for some TLC before starting a new record."

"Is that a Ms. Bonnebell I hear?" Mr. P called from the back room.

"It is Mr. P, but she can't stay for long you see, this is her last evening with Marcie!"

"Oh my! Is that the case? Well what is it? The usual?" Ms. B nodded.

"Tell you what, I will get it done, and I will even throw in a few extra goodies for old time's sake." He called.

"Oh Mr. P, I really can't..."

"Oh I insist!"

Mrs. Trunk gave Ms. B a look, telling her it was pointless to argue with him, he had already made up his mind. Ms. B nodded. She looked around the room before her eyes settled on Fiona and Bubba.

"Oh Fiona! I didn't know you came here!" She walked over to the pair.

"This is actually my first time in here. Bernabon over here is the one that took me here." She gestured to Bubba, who was sulking in a very un-princely fashion, in his chair. Refusing to look up at Ms. B. Is there some history between the two I am not getting?

"Oh have you two met? Ms. B, this is my tutor Bernabon Schweet, but you probably know him..."

"She knows who I am." Bubba hissed.

"Oh yes, I am so sorry." Fiona said a little hurt.

"Oh yes, we do know one another Fiona. You see, I was Bernabon's tutor when he was in middle school, and I attended Vincent Academy's high school." Ms. B said sweetly, trying to change the subject.

"Order up!" Mr. P rang the bell. Triumphantly holding a large paper bag.

"My goodness that was fast!" Ms. B exclaimed.

Mr. P beamed "Well, I did get pretty used to making it, considering you and Marcie would come in, and order the same thing everyday when you were at VA."

"My goodness, how time has flown by." She replied wistfully. Her wrist watch beeped, and she glanced down at it. "Is it that late already?! Oh my goodness, I have to get going, thank you for everything! What do I owe you?"

"Not a thing hun, take it for old time's sake." Mrs. Trunks waved her out the door.

"Goodbye Fiona, I will see you tomorrow in class!"

"Bye!" She waved as Ms. B jogged past the cafe window.

Bubba sighed deeply, then clutched his heart in pain. He cried out. Mrs. Trunks and Mr. P ran over to the table.

"Bernabon! Bernabon, is everything alright?" Fiona got up from her chair, and knelt down next to him.

"Yeah..." He grimaced in pain. "I am fine, just a little spasm." She rubbed his back, not knowing what else to do. After a few moments of his whole body drawn up in tension, it finally relaxed.

"I am going to go all Pep." Mrs. Trunks called hurriedly and she jogged over to the other side of the counter, and pulled out a scuffed up rotary phone. She frantically dialed a number, and spilled a rush of hurried words into the speaking end. She was silent for a moment, before nodding, and hanging up.

"Pep is on his way, Bernabon."

"Yes, thank you very much Mrs. Trunks, and Mr. P. Sorry for causing such a scene in your wonderful cafe."

They both rolled their eyes. "Will you stop playing the princely martyr, and let someone take care of you once in a while?" Mr. P said exasperatedly.

Fiona stood up to help, but he grabbed her hand. "No, please, will you stay with me for a moment? I don't know why but..." He paused, sucking in a shaking breath. "I feel like I have known you for a very long time."

She dropped her head. "Me too..." A silent tear trickling down her face.

Bernabon's butler, Pep, arrived several minutes later with the car.

"Oh Master Schweet, you have really strained yourself. You must think of your health."

"Oh Pep please, your warnings aren't doing any good at the moment." Bernabon said, and he carefully got up from the chair. He was extremely pale, and his breathing was uneven.

"Here, let me help..." Fiona pulled his arm around her shoulders for support, and Pep did the same on the other side.

They slowly lead him over to the car. Fiona helped maneuver him inside the backseat. Meanwhile, Pep fished his wallet out from his jacket, and handed Mrs. Trunks and Mr. P a thick stack of bills.

"Here, for the food, and for your trouble." He offered it to them.

"Oh we really cannot accept this..." Mr. P began.

"Then don't." Pep threw the bills on the ground in front of them, and walked out of the Cafe, where Fiona was waiting outside. He nodded briefly to Fiona before opening the front passenger door, climbing inside, and ordering the driver to drive.

Fiona watched as the black car pulled away from the curb with ease. Then she headed back inside to grab her backpack. She thanked the elderly couple for their hospitality, and then awkwardly walked out.

_None of those stupid teen flicks Cake made me watch for 'research' had not prepared her for this..._

She shivered as she started her walk home.


	6. Fiona's Confusion

_A quick author's note: Hi there everyone! I noticed in my perusing of the various Adventure Time fandom blogs, that there are several spellings of many character's names. Just to explain, I am not ignorant to the multiple spellings, or else why would I bring it up? Since this is an AU I have taken some creative freedoms. E.g. Fiona instead of Fionna and Finn instead of Fin. I hope that this will not distract too much from the story. PS: This chapter is a little sad, but I promise that this fic is not going to be super sad like my other one. Thanks for reading!_

**Chapter 6: Fiona's Confusion **

Bernabon did not return to school for the next few days. Fiona tried not to dwell on it, but it is kind of hard when your math tutor is down for the count, and you are miserably failing remedial Algebra, and your teacher taking all of his anger about the missing student in his two person class out on you with more homework.

Finn and Jake were pleasant company, but Jake seemed to be with Rain more, and Finn could never hang out because he had 'practice' which he still refused to tell her what it was for.

"Where does Finn go when he says he has to get to 'practice'?" Fiona asked Jake one day after school after Finn had recently disappeared to attend the said practice.

"Hmm?" Jake looked up from his nuzzling of Rain's neck to glance over at Fiona. Fiona rolled her eyes._ Seriously, they are just as bad as Cake and her boyfriend... _

"Oh, I dunno. Finn is pretty secretive about it. I mean, I am his numero uno bro, and he hasn't even told me about it."

"I think he is embarrassed about it, whatever it is." Rain interrupted, glancing worriedly down the hallway Finn had just disappeared down. "I feel like Jake and I have been inadvertently pushing him away..." She added.

Jake stepped away from Rain. "I never thought about it that way..." He paced around the hall, his back hunched over in deep thought. He fell to the ground on his knees and yelled "Oh my god, I have outed my best friend to be with my lady friend! I am such a terrible bro!"

_She didn't want to admit it but it was true, Finn had told her a little about it during PE. He didn't hate Jake for getting a girlfriend, in fact he really liked Rain, but it seemed like he didn't have time of him anymore..._

"Hey, hey, hey! Everything will be alright, you can fix this!" Rain walked slowly towards Jake, who was wallowing in a pool of self pity on the floor, curled up in a ball.

"Yeah dude, you can totally make this right with Finn!" Fiona added, coming to stand next to Rain, who was kneeling over her dramatic boyfriend.

"No, I need to make this more than better!" Jake whimpered.

"How?!" Both the girls looked at each other, and then back at Jake.

"Simple!" He said, as he jumped up from the ground, and zipped up his yellow hoodie. "I will throw Finn a 'I'm sorry I am such a crappy friend, please take me back' party!" He stood there triumphantly.

Rain raised an eyebrow. "Well that was fast..."

Fiona snickered.

"Don't laugh! This party will be off the charts! There will be a live DJ, and lights, and a dance floor, and pancakes..." He trailed off as he darted around, visualizing it all.

"He had me at pancakes..." Fiona said to Rain. Rain giggled, and then asked on a serious note, "But if it is a party celebrating your friendship, why are you inviting so many people? Shouldn't it just be a few close friends?"

"My lady." Jake wagged a finger at her. "You can't fill a dance floor up with 'a few close friends'!"

They both rolled their eyes. They knew it was pointless to try and reason with him now, but they would bring him down the size... wouldn't they?

* * *

Fiona headed to the library after she had said her goodbyes to Rain and Jake. Jake still completely immersed in party planning.

_I can use this time to explore the library, and see if there is any truth behind that urban legend Bubba was telling me about on the first day..._

As she opened the antique wooden doors, the smell of old books and dusty pages hit her. She took in a deep breath, reveling in the scent, the promise of a possible way home.

The library was, for the most part, very empty. A few students and librarians shuffled silently through the countless bookshelves and archives re-shelving books. That must be an unending job in this place...

Fiona went to one of the many library catalogue computers dispersed throughout the main floor and typed in 'LAND' and 'AAAA'. Nothing came up. Disappointedly, she typed in her next phrase: 'WORMHOLE TRAVEL'. _Might as well start with the basics if I am going to be stuck here for the time being... _

Low and behold a long list of books explaining the different theories and physics of a wormhole popped up. She clicked on the first book _The Science of Wormholes. That looks like a good place to start... _The catalogue informed her that the book was located on the left wing of the sixth floor. She took a slip of yellow paper and a small pencil that was sitting next to the computer, and jotted down the author and number of the book, not wanting to have to go all the way back down if she couldn't remember.

She took the long, winding, staircase up to the sixth floor, and followed the signs until she reached the left wing which read 'SCIENCE' above the entrance. Before entering, she heard a soft whimper coming from down the hall perpendicular to the entrance. She stopped, and listened it came again. _As an adventuress of Aaaa, it is my duty to protect the innocent..._ I have to investigate. She wandered down the hallway, the whimpering growing louder and louder. It was coming from the poetry section. She rounded the corner and gasped.

"Marshall?" She whispered breathlessly.

The he was asleep in a small alcove with a window seat, over looking the grassy, tree-lined center of the campus. His head and shouldered slouched against the wall, with the rest of his body lying on the blue velvety, upholstered window seat. He had his headphones in, and large piles of books stacked neatly around him, with one resting open on his chest. His eyes shut tight, and his lips mouthing words. He whimpered again. She ran to him, trying to shake him from his dream.

"Marshall! Marshall! Wake up! It's just a dream." She whispered.

His eyes popped open, and he smirked. "Fooled you!"

She frowned. "Wow, thanks Dracula. I thought something was really wrong..."

She crumpled the yellow piece of paper in her hand as she stood up.

"What's this?" He grabbed the piece of paper from her hand, and read it.

"Hey! Give that back!" She protested, but he put a finger to her lips as he stood up.

"Shush, don't you know you are suppose to be quiet in a library? Where are your manners?"

She glared at him, and tried to bite his finger away. "I wouldn't to that if I were you, good little girl." He glanced up at the ceiling. She followed his gaze, which was fixed on a rotating security camera. She hadn't noticed it before.

"My bodyguards might be on you like white on rice if you hurt me..." He winked at her. "Though I don't think I would mind getting roughed up a bit by you."

She glared. "So that is the way they keep an eye on you?"

He turned his attention from the security camera. "Oh, so you know about the son of the notorious crime boss?"

"I try not to listen to gossip..." She began, blushing a little.

"Oh but why ever not? Especially when it is true." He glared up at the camera as it turned, and focused in on them. "Looks like we have been spotted." He smirked. "Mommy dearest put these in. It promised me my freedom from the physical pressure of the body guards during the school day. Now they just sit in a dark room, and watch my every move with the aid of TV screens, and all mommy ever had to do was throw a big check VA's way insisting that our campus needed to be safer, with so many 'high profile kids' on campus."

"What are you doing in the poetry section anyways?" She changed the subject.

"What? You think because I don't attend classes I don't know how to read?" He raised an eyebrow at her as he folded the book that had been open on his chest, and returned it to a shelf.

"Anyways..." He looked down at the crumpled scrap of paper again. "I am wondering why a girl such as yourself, is looking into the properties of wormholes."

"Just because I am a girl, I can't be interested in things beyond boys and makeup?" She said, turning his earlier words against him.

He laughed. A muffled hiss of "shhhh..." could be heard from the first floor front desk.

"That woman really does have superhuman hearing..." He glared in the direction of the front desk.

"Let's help you find that book of yours." He said, walking away from her, with his hands shoved into his pockets.

"You really don't have to do that, I was making my way there, when I heard that awful noise you were making." She grumbled.

"Well..? Have you done your homework?" He looked at her teasingly as they made their way back to the science wing.

She rolled her eyes. She had in fact. Cake was more than happy to give her the money to buy the albums, insisting that Marshall was interested in her, and was trying to make conversation. That evening, after her first day of school, she had sat in her room, and put in her head phones. She closed her eyes, and let the music consume her. She liked it. The fast, rocking beats of one album transitioning to the smoother slower songs, that would suddenly burst to life.

"Yes, I have listened to them."

"And what did you think?" He urged her on.

"I... I liked it." She replied. A little annoyed in admitting she liked the music he had suggested.

Marshall's face broke into a broad grin, different from his smug expressions before. "I knew you would like it, good little girl, no one is immune to the rocking flare of Metallica, and the grungy twang of Nirvana."

They turned into the science wing, and Fiona's phone began to vibrate. "Sorry, I better take this, it might be Cake." She apologized to him as she fished her phone out of her backpack._ Thank gob I put it on silent before I came in, I think that librarian would have had a fit..._

She was surprised as the caller ID flashed. The screen read 'Bernabon Schweet', and below the name was the picture they had taken together on their first day.

Marshall stiffened. He stood taller, and his breathing became deep and controlled.

_I can't answer this right now, I am going to have to let it go to voice mail.._. She clicked the power button once to silence the buzzing, and slid the phone back into its hiding place in her backpack.

"Looks like you and Bubba there are pretty tight. He never gives people his number." Marshall observed coldly.

"Naw, I wouldn't say we were close. It was probably just a butt dial." She said trying to reassure herself more than him.

Marshall shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, and loosened his tie a little more. They didn't speak as they walked down the hallway. She was preoccupied with began matching the numbers on the front of each isle with the ones on the slip of paper.

"Here we are." She sighed as she walked down the isle, pulling the book, and several others of the same subject matter from the shelf. "Well thank you for all of your..." She looked up from the books, but saw that Marshall had disappeared. She called for him, but there was no reply. _Wow, talk about edgy... I am going to have to remember to watch my mouth around him. I get the feeling that he doesn't like Bubba, and for more than the obvious reasons of dress code... _

* * *

After checking out the books, and exiting from the library, she pulled her phone as well as her bunny hat. She pulled out her headphones so she could listen to some music while she walked home. She was surprised to find that Bubba had left a voicemail. _Weird... Well, I better listen to it, it may be important. _

She unlocked her phone, and clicked through her past voicemails from Cake.

"YOU HAVE ONE NEW MESSAGE." An automated voice responded.

"Yeah, yeah. I know that..." She grumbled.

"FIRST MESSAGE.." There was a momentary pause, before Bubba's voice appeared.

"Hello Ms. Fiona, I am sorry for any worry I have caused you, but I guess it could not be helped." There was another brief pause. "I am very sorry to ask this of you, but would you mind coming by my car, it is located on the opposite side of the campus, from the main entrance. It is a matter of my tutoring you, as well as I have a favor to ask. I will be waiting for you in the same car you saw a couple of days ago. Please do not hurry, I will be waiting until 5 PM. Thanks Fiona." There was another brief pause, and then he hung up.

She looked down at her phone. It was 4:30 now, she would have plenty of time...

_I wonder if he is going to say that he can't tutor me anymore..._

* * *

It took about fifteen minutes for her to reach the other side of the campus. She didn't mind though. She loved walking, and ever since she had arrived here, she hadn't done it enough. Cake had been insistent on her taking a driver to school, but Fiona refused. There was a cold autumn breeze that shook the leaves from the trees above her. How could I drive when there is all of this?

She saw Bubba's car was pulled up next to the curb a few yards away. She jogged over to it as Pep pulled down the passenger's window.

"Master Schweet is waiting for you in the back." He said dismissively. "Make it quick, I am not permitted to let the Master out of bed while he is recuperating, but he was insistent on seeing you today."

She nodded as she opened the back door, and stepped inside. Bubba was sitting on the other side. He was dressed in pink and blue stripped silk nightshirt, and matching pants. He looked very pail and sickly, even his bubble gum pink hair has seemed to have lost some of its color.

"Hi Fiona." He said meekly.

"Hi Bernabon, how are you?" She didn't call him by his other name, because she didn't know if she would be reprimanded by Pep.

He looked at her a moment, confused as to why she was calling him by his more formal name. She nodded her head towards Pep, and his eyes grew wide with understanding. "I am sorry to have called you so spur of the moment, but I have a favor to ask of you. Well, actually I have two." She nodded, and he continued. "I would appreciate it if what you witnessed the other day at the cafe were to stay between the three of us." He nodded towards Pep. "It is not that I do not want anyone to find out about it, it is just... Well, actually that is exactly the reason." He looked at her pleadingly.

"Bernabon, I have not told a soul about what happened."

"I knew you wouldn't. See Pep? She can be trusted!" He exclaimed weakly.

Pep grunted, and shifted around in his seat as a response.

"The second thing I must ask you to do, is to go around, and ask my teachers for my assignments."

"Master Schweet, I could have done that for you if you really wanted me to..." Pep interrupted, seeming to be a little hurt from not being trusted with Bubba's request.

"Yes Pep, I know you would have, but I want Fiona to do it." He placed his hand on top of hers like she had done a few days earlier in the cafe. She blushed at the display of affection.

"I will have Pep come after school, and pick you up so you can bring it to my house."

"Why can't I just give it to Pep, and he give it to you?"

"Because Pep is very forgetful, and he might forget the instructions accompanied with my homework. I need you to relay me the exact messages."

Fiona didn't know why he was so insistent on it, but she could sense the urgency in his voice, so she agreed.

"Splendid." He clapped his hands together, seeming to grow a little stronger after she had agreed to his odd request. "Now one last thing: I would like to give you the chance to back out of our tutoring arrangement. You now know that I have a bit of a... health problem, and I would hate to distract you from you academics."

She shook her head. "No, I would like you to continue to be my tutor..."

"Even though during our first session did not go according to plan, and we didn't end up discussing anything on topic?" He glanced at her shyly.

_Let's face it. I am not going to get any better at Algebra, but this does give me a chance to hang out with Bubba on a regular basis. If I didn't have this, who knows the next time we would get to talk, let alone hang out..._

"Oh I don't mind." She said assuredly.

He took a deep sigh of relief, and slouched back in his chair from the very proper position he had been sitting in during their chat. He closed his eyes, and placed one thoughtful hand over his heart.

"That really does put my heart at ease..." He trailed off.

"Ms. Keadersen, Master Schweet is very tired. Would you mind if I took him back home?" Pep requested gingerly.

"Yes Pep, I will be going now, thank you for your time." She smiled and stepped out of the car.

* * *

Fiona started walking towards the main entrance, the fresh leaves cracking under her feet as she walked.

_He still hasn't explained to me what is the deal with him and Ms. B..._

All of a sudden, a blur of white, black, and red rushed towards her, pushing her up against a nearby tree. She opened her eyes. Marshall was standing before her, pinning both her hands against the wide trunk. He had dawned a loose black leather jacket, and a red scarf on top of his uniform.

"Marshall... What the glob man? Where did you disappear to? And what the hell are you doing?" She said in a panic.

He ignored her questions. "Stay away from Bernabon Schweet, Fiona. He's no good."

_There is no doubt he saw me getting out of his car just now..._

She struggled against his grasp, but that only made him squeeze tighter around her wrists.

"What do you know about good? You're the son of a crime boss, who doesn't attend class, and sneaks around the library..." She spat, but she instantly regretted it once she had said it. His face was a blank canvas, showing how much her words had actually hurt him. He relaxed his grip slightly, and his face softened.

"Marshall, I am sorry... I didn't mean to..." Before she knew what was happening, Marshall pressed his lips against hers. It tasted like fresh strawberries and cream. She fought back initially, but found that she enjoyed it. It was like a bolt of lightening zapping through her body.

"I won't..." He breathed in between hurried kisses. "I won't let him take you..." He breathed heavily. "He won't get you..." He pulled away, and cupped his hand around her chin.

"Fiona, I can't get you out of my head. I feel like I have known you my whole life..."

Her eyes grew wide with panic and fear. She pushed him aside, and ran away.

_No. No. No. What am I doing? I can't do this. I need to get back home... _Tears streaming down her face as she ran through the crowded sidewalks.

She didn't stop running until she was inside Cake's apartment.

"Fiona baby, is that you? I was beginning to worry when you weren't answering my calls..." Cake called as she walked towards the entry way, drying a dish in her hand.

She gasped. "Fiona baby, what happened?"

"Cake." She said through ragged breaths. "I need you to tell me everything you know about Bernabon Schweet, and Marshall Lee."

The apartment was silent, except for the sound of a china dish hitting the floor and breaking.


	7. A Little Background

**Chapter 7: A Little Background**

"I will tell you what I know, but you must take it with a grain of salt. I mean," Cake sighed and sat down on one of the white couches in the sitting room. Fiona took to a chair facing her.

"I was in college when this happened, but I am still young enough to remember when Bonnebell was a little middle schooler. It was hard to forget her, she was so focused, even for my age group, she was advanced." Cake licked her lips. She seemed nervous.

"Anyways, do you remember how I told you that these children's worlds are significantly skewed, and different from our own?"

Fiona nodded. Remembering their talk in the beauty salon.

"Yes, their world is extremely delicate, like ink upon paper, it is truly hard to forget anything, no matter how hard you blot it out." Cake meant this as a warning.

"Bonnebell and Bernabon were affianced to one another." She continued coldly.

"To be married? But Cake they are both so young..." She interrupted.

Cake held up a hand for silence. "I warned you, their world is very different from our own. This marriage was not one of love, but one of wealth. Their parents saw it as a form of corporate merger, without all the paperwork. The children liked each other, but when they were first introduced, they had very little concept of what love, or even marriage was, but this is the way things should be." She trailed off whistfully, staring out the windows.

"So are they still to be married?"

"I did say 'were' didn't I?"

Fiona nodded.

"Bonnebell is a little older than Bernabon, four or five years if I am remembering this correctly...

And growing up, the two often played together, although Bernabon had always been very sickly, and didn't get out much, she was always there to take care of him. And I do think that he began to fall in love with her. Which was very agreeable with their parents, for there was less fear of a scandal when they are in love...

Well, anyways. The older Bonnebell became, the less and less interested she became in an arranged marriage. Which is fitting for any well-minded scholar...

By the time she entered high school, there was no question in her own mind to whether or not she was going to go through with her parents wishes, but Bernabon was another matter. Bernabon had never had the doubting parents in his life that Bonnebell had. So when Bonnebell met Marceline Lee, well, things only went from bad to worse..."

"What do you mean, Cake?"

"I mean that Bonnebell had fallen in love with someone else."

Fiona nodded. "She had fallen in love with Marceline Lee?"

"Yes."

"But then how does this effect Marshall and Bernabon?"

"I am getting to that..." Cake said patiently. "When Bonnebell informed the families, and Bernabon of her choice to cancel the marriage and marry Marceline...

The parents were enraged, and Bernabon collapsed when he heard the news, his heart no doubt welling with incomprehensible grief, and he had always been such a weak child.

Her own parents were insistent that she reconsider, here were threats of disownment... "

_To think that the only person that you had ever really loved, and had grown up believing you were going to one day marry, would tell her family that she would rather be a penniless wretch than to marry you... _The thought made Fiona shiver.

As if reading her mind, Cake continued. "What happened next should have been easily predicted. You see, Bonnebell, herself renounced her own title after she had finished high school and had been accepted into a prestigious university. But Bernabon's family tried everything to make Marceline's high school experience as miserable as possible. They blamed her for Bonnebell's break of the marriage, she had shamed them. So they hired thugs to bully her, steal her homework, and make her life a living hell, but this backfired, and only made Bonnebell's and Marceline's love stronger. The Schweets even tried to use some of their connections to get her entire family locked up because of their mob affiliations. Soon after her graduation from university, Marceline landed a big gig with her band, and they became over night celebrities, and now she tours the world. So they are doing just fine. Bonnebell returned to Vincent Academy to teach, and Marceline tours the world with her band.

But while Bonnebell and Marceline rode happily off into the sunset, a hatred grew in Bernabon's heart. He had been rejected by the only person he had ever loved."

_He probably thought that she had left him behind, just like his parents had. _

"He finished out the rest of his elementary and middle school years at home, being privately tutored. The heartbreak had led to a series of complicated medical problems involving his heart, meaning that he needed a nurse with him all the time. But he re-enrolled in Vincent Academy his first year of high school, and that is when he met Marshall Lee...

Marshall's family ran the crime syndicate that Marceline's family was a part of. They are actually distant cousins believe it or not, although neither of them really talked growing up. But this didn't matter to Bernabon, because he just saw him as a member of the family who had publicly shamed him, and stolen the person he had loved more than anyone else in the world.

He was not strong enough to fight Marshall outright, instead he used his money and power, like his parents had done, to make Marshall's life just as miserable as Marceline's had been. No doubt this was put to a quick stop by Marshall's mother, employing hulking body guards, and but the damage had still been done. Marshall had been ostracized from his entire school. No one would come near him, they feared him for his power and status."

"But Cake, why didn't Marshall transfer to a different school, to try and make new friends?"

"Two reasons: One, this would be seen as a retreat by the Lee's. And Two, none of the other schools would touch him due to his crime connections. He was stuck."

"So Bernabon became the idolized, secluded Prince, and Marshall became the outcast. Bernabon began to ignore Marshall, knowing that he had bested him, and Marshall ignored Bernabon, as well as the rest of the school because he didn't care anymore."

Cake glanced over at Fiona. "Does this answer you question?"

"Yes Cake, thank you."

She sat back, and rested her knuckles against her chin. "Sometimes I wonder if it had been better if I had sent you to another school, but how was I to know that you would get involved with the two most powerful young men on campus, and the nasty feud between them."

"Cake, I find trouble wherever I go. That's why you sent me to VA in the first place, so you could keep a better eye on me, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess you are right." Cake replied wistfully, looking out the windows again.

* * *

Fiona stood in the chilly midnight air out on her balcony. Her simple white nightgown lapping against her feet in the light wind. She stared up at the starless sky. Thinking about everything that had happened today, all the things Cake had told her.

_It's so much different from Aaaa... _

Her gaze floated down to the twinkling world of neon and office lights around her.

This world is so beautiful, so delicate...

She walked over to the edge of the balcony, and looked down. Below her, the streets were a whirl of smoke, flashing lights, and honking horns.

_But also so very dangerous. I don't know where to turn, or who I can trust. I thought high school would be easy, everyone made it sound and look so easy on TV, but this is real life... A life in a world that I didn't want... _

She closed her eyes, and let the wind thrash against her body, and pull at her loose hair. She could hear the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, and smell the smoke and grime beneath her.

She heard someone clearing their throat, and the strike of a match. She opened her eyes, and looked around. Cake inhabited the pent house level of the apartments, so there was no one to either side of them. She craned her neck, and looked down below. She had never noticed that there were balconies beneath her. Below her, a young man with light blond hair, and pale skin cradled a designer cigarette in his teeth. His back against the railing of the balcony, hands in his pockets. The boy looked up, this gray-blue eyes meeting her dark blue.

"Finn...?" She whispered.

"Fiona?" He gasped. The cigarette falling from his lips to the floor with a slight tap.


	8. Heat Signature

**Chapter 8: Heat Signature**

He looked up, Fiona's questioning face peering down at him from up above.

"Fiona?"

She disappeared from view. He could hear her feat stomping across the balcony, and then they slowly faded away.

His heart began pounding.

_Shit, shit, shit. What do I do?_

* * *

She didn't know why, but she ran. She ran out the front door, as Cake called sleepily to her. She ran as she reached the end of the hallway, and frantically clicked the down arrow on the elevator. She ran down the stairs after she couldn't wait a moment longer for the dull hum of the elevator making its long accent up to meet her. She ran through the hallways as she searched for his name on the panels beside the doors of each apartment. She stopped when she found his name. Then she stood outside his door, not knowing what to do.

* * *

He paced around his dark living room.

_What is she gonna think? Is she gonna hate me? Why her? Why did it have to be her? _

In a panicked state, he searched for his phone.

_ That's it! I'll call Jake, he'll know what to do!_

He freed his phone from its hiding place in-between the pillows of the couch, and pressed Jake's contact, which was set for speed dial, though he hadn't called Jake in such a long time because he was always busy with Rain.

"Please pick up, please pick up." He begged as the phone began to ring.

"Hey man!" Jake's voice replied after what seemed like an eternity.

"Jake, my bro..." He started excitedly.

"Jokes dude, it's not really me. You've reached my voicemail, which means that I am either with my Lady, or my bro, Finn. So leave a message after the beep... 'BEEP'... Just kidding man." Jake snickered as his voice was cut off, and replaced by the actual beep.

He pulled the phone away from his ear, and let it fall to the ground.

_Oh yeah, I forgot. Jake was spending the night with Rain... How silly of me... _

Tears began to roll down Finn's face. He pulled a cigarette from its resting place in the box in his back pocket. He placed it in his dry lips, not bothering to lick them as he pressed the filter against his teeth and lower lip. He walked over to the kitchen, and dug a lighter from one of the crowded drawers. His hands shook as he brought the flame to the lip of his cigarette.

His front door bell rang.

* * *

Finn answered the door, wiping his eyes, an unlit cigarette hanging from the left corner of his mouth. She stood there for a moment.

_What was I thinking? What could Finn do?_

"I'm sorry Finn, I don't know what I was..." He walked away from her, disinterested. Leaving the door wide open behind him.

She peered inside the dark apartment, as his form was swallowed up by shadows. She cautiously stepped inside.

His apartment was no doubt smaller than Cakes, but more furnished. There was a long entryway furnished with expensive artwork, that eventually opened out to his living room, with two hallways flanking both sides. His living room smelled of new electronics and freshly polished leather couches. Beyond this, was the balcony, where he currently stood. Her feet slapped quietly against the hard wood floor as she walked through the living room, and out, onto the balcony, where Finn stood. She couldn't see the vast, darkness of the hazy city sky above her as she had on her own balcony, but this one was somehow more comforting. Enclosed by her own balcony, giving it a concrete awning.

Finn was leaning against the railing, looking out at the city. Lights flashing, reflecting the moisture of his eyes. She stood next to him, looking out over the same soulless city.

"Do you ever wish that you could change the past?" He asked, not taking his gaze from the city.

"Not a moment goes by that I don't." She confessed.

"Good. I wanted to know if I was the only one." He pulled himself up, standing on top of the thin railing, and swinging his legs over the edge, letting them dangle above the city, as he sat on the railing. Acting as if he were on a small wall, and not a few thousand feet above the ground. He fished into his back pocket, and pulled out a crumpled packet of matches he had forgotten about in all the excitement, and struck it, brining the flame to the tip of his cigarette. He sucked in a deep breath, and expelled a puff of smoke. She leaned against the railing next to him.

_He hated smoking, but lately he had picked it up out of boredom._

"So what brings you here?" He inquired. Finally turning his gaze from the city to her face.

She began to cry.

He pulled her next to him, almost losing his balance in the process, but it didn't matter to him.

"Oh really? Well you took the words right out of my mouth."

She couldn't help but laugh bitterly at his ill placed joke.

He smirked. Turning his gaze back to the city.

_Well at least someone needs me tonight..._ He thought.

* * *

He let her cry. He let her cry, and he did not ask questions, because she hadn't invasively asked any questions of him when he answered the door.

She held his hand to help him down off the edge. She had insisted on that. He pulled the butt of the cigarette from his teeth, threw it to the ground, and smashed it out with the heel of his slipper, as well as the one from earlier just for good measure. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his light blue sweater, and followed Fiona inside his apartment.

"Why aren't any of the lights on in your apartment?" She said, breaking the silence.

He shrugged. "I dunno, I just like it better this way. Besides, no one is ever home to tell me otherwise."

She glided around the living room. He hadn't noticed what she was wearing, but now all of a sudden, he felt embarrassed. She was only in a nightgown. He looked down at his own attire. A oversized blue sweat shirt and a pair of black jeans.

_Well, I am not very presentable either. Maybe I should go change... _

"Make yourself at home. The cook is off duty, so if you want something, you will have to make it yourself. I will be right back..."

"M'kay." She nodded, still wandering around the formal entry, and living room.

* * *

Finn disappeared down a hallway. She waited until she heard the clack of the door being pulled closed, and then she continued exploring. She wandered down the hallway opposite of the one he had just disappeared down. She pressed her hand against the wall for reference. She still didn't want to turn the light on, she liked the mystery of the darkness. She was completely cloaked in darkness for several moments before her hand brushed the hint of a door frame. She grabbed at it.

_It's like exploring a dungeon back home... _

She felt for the handle, then gingerly turned it. It resisted her turning it, but with a squeaky groan of reluctance, it swung open. There were windows making up the opposite side of the room from the entrance, like her own apartment, but these windows were frosted. Making only a small smoked portion of light leak through the windows. Her hand reached out, and began searching for the light switch.

"Bingo." She whispered as she felt the light switch.

The recessed lighting up above her flickered on.

"So this is what he means by 'practice'..." She breathed.

* * *

He stood shirtless in the middle of his less than clean room, it was the one area of the apartment that he did not let the maid clean. Three shirts sprawled out before him on his bed.

_ Why can't I just pick a damn shirt? She's not going to care what I am wearing..._

As much as he hated to admit it, he had never had a girl in his home before. It had always just been him and Jake. Bros for life... or so he thought... Then a girl just showed up at the front of his door, and started crying.

_ What was I suppose to do? Just leave her? Not that I was really that much better..._

He blushed slightly as he though about it. "Aghhhhh!" Pressing his hands on his burning cheeks as he screamed in frustration, and fell backwards onto his bed. Falling on top of the three shirts.

_Get it together. Out there is the same Fiona that you have talked to at school a thousand times, it should not make any difference that she is here! _

"Yeah. I just need to go talk to her." He said to himself. Subsequently strolling out of his room. Forcing a calm expression to cloak his nervousness.

_I just have to act like we are at school... _He stopped walking. _But she wouldn't cry to me at school... would she?_

He pulled a hand through his hair in frustration and continued down the hallway towards the light that had just blinked on in the practice room.

"Well she didn't waste anytime." He smirked.

* * *

She gasped. "A combat room? This is what Finn does in his spare time?"

She walked into the room. Stopping in the middle of a squishy rubber practice matt. On either sides of her were closets. No doubt full of different weapons. Some swords hung on the walls in between the closets.

_No doubt they are originals... _

In the left far corner of the room, propped up against the frosted windows, was a large collection of fencing foils. She wandered over to it, and drew a long saber from its confinement. She admired it in the light.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you it is impolite to open closed doors in someone else's home?" Finn said playfully.

She turned around quickly. Her nightgown swirling around her legs as she did so. Finn was leaning on the doorframe his arms crossed across his shirtless chest .

_Well all that 'practice' has been paying off..._

She couldn't help but stare for a moment at his well-defined chest and arms, and low riding pants.

"You did tell me to make myself at home, didn't you?" She smiled. Looking at his eyes, then letting her own fall down the length of his body again.

"Touche..." He grinned."What are you...? Oh my gosh! Um... I am so sorry!" He said in a fluster. He hadn't realized that he was not wearing a shirt.

_She hated to admit it, but she didn't mind the view herself. _

He padded quickly out of the room, and down the hallway. She followed him out. Glancing one last time back at the room as she flipped the lights off, once again submerging it in darkness and shadow. She closed the door, and wandered back into the living room, and flopped down on the couch.

"I really do apologize for that. I spend a lot of time alone, so I don't really think about what I am wearing in the evenings..." He said hurriedly as he appeared from the opposite hallway, pulling a sweatshirt over his head that read 'Scream Kings' in text that looked like dripping blood.

"Dude, you are totally fine. It is not the first time I have seen a shirtless boy in real life..."

(Although it actually was the first time she had seen a shirtless _human_ boy in real life. She had seen them in magazines sprawled out around Cake's house, but that was a different story...)

He smiled shyly. "Yeah, I guess you are right, but I still shouldn't be flashing my guests."

"So do you like the Scream Kings?" She inquired in an attempt to change the subject.

He looked down at his sweatshirt. "Yeah... Well, actually Jake does more than I do, but when we went to see them last time, it was an outdoor concert, and I forgot a jacket, so I just bought this one out of necessity. It's actually really soft, so now I just like wearing it around the house." He walked over to the couch, and flopped down next to Fiona. "Rumor has it that one of the band members goes to VA, but I hate to believe rumors. The members are pretty secretive about their real identities..."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh I thought you knew about them since you brought it up..."

Fiona shook her head. "No, I just know of them, I actually don't know anything about them."

_I am such a liar, I know who the 'secret band member' is... _

"Oh, well they dress up like characters out of old horror movies, like The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein, Robbie the robot... But the main heart throb of the group is the singer, he dresses up like Dracula. You know, the whole nine yards, the cape, the slicked back hair, the teeth. The girls go absolutely crazy for him, but he just plays it off. I think he really gets into character, ya know?"

"Does he have the whole bad stereotypical vampire voice?" She teased.

"Do you really think I would let Jake drag me to a two-plus hour long concert where the singer sang in a bad Transylvanian accent? I would rather be at home re-watching Heat Signature..."

"Heat Signature?"

Finn looked at her like she had sprouted antennae. "Are you telling me that you know what the Scream Kings are, but you have never watched the cult classic Heat Signature?

"What can you say? I am uncultured." She shrugged.

"Well we are going to have to change that..." He grinned, getting up from the couch, and pushing a button on the wall, making a television drop down form above.

"I decided to spring for the digital so I would always have a copy." He flopped back onto the couch, this time a little closer to her.

"So." He glanced mischievously at her. "Shall we watch the original, or the director's cut?"

"I shall leave my uncultured mind in your capable hands." She smirked.

"Dealer's choice, I like it... Original it is, we will watch the director's cut afterwards."

"We are going to watch BOTH?" She said in surprise.

"Trust me, you won't mind it." He flipped through the menu, and clicked on the cover. They settled back in to their seats. "You are in for a real treat, Fi."

_He called me Fi..._

* * *

By the time the opening credits had rolled by, her eye lids were growing heavy, and then by the end of the first scene, she had fallen asleep.

It hadn't bothered him that she was asleep, but it had bothered him where she had.

_Well, what do I do now?_

She had fallen asleep on his chest. He hadn't meant for this to happen, but she had slowly drifted over onto him, as her head began to lull during the opening credits.

"Fiona? Oh, Fiona?" He whispered to her.

She mumbled something about 'Aaaa', and nuzzled into his chest. He tried to push her over, but she was as heavy as a rock.

"How can someone so small, be so heavy?" He gasped.

He gazed down at her as she slept. Her slim shoulders moving up and down as she breathed in and out, her blond hair fell delicately around her face.

_How can anyone be this cute while they sleep?_

He eventually gave up, and just started watching the movie, until he also dozed off about half way through.

* * *

She rubbed away the sleep from her eyes, yawned, and sat up. She blushed. Below her was a softly snoring Finn.

_I feel asleep on him... Oh crap. _She looked outside. The sky a light shade of gray mixed with the fleeting dark blue of night._ Cake is probably wondering where I am, oh my gosh... _

The scenes of the previous night flashed before her eyes. She hadn't thought about the drama between Bernabon and Marshall at all when she was with Finn. She looked down at him again. He began to stir.

* * *

Finn jolted upright. Fiona was no where in sight.

_Had it all just been a dream? _

His back cracked as he stood up and stretched. _Man, I forgot how uncomfortable this couch is to sleep on... _

He heard something sizzling and cracking in the kitchen. Then a muffled whisper of a curse.

_Who could it be? The cook doesn't arrive until eight or so, and my dad doesn't come back from his business trip for another two weeks..._

He turned the corner, and heard another muffled curse. Fiona stood before the stove top, pushing a beaten pancake around a skillet. Her back was to him. Her long hair cascading down her back. She wore the white button shirt, a suede navy blue vest, plaid skirt, and knee high socks. He cleared his throat.

"Good morning Finn! I took the liberty of starting breakfast. Cake had to leave early this morning for a business trip, so I decided to cook you breakfast down here instead... I hope you don't mind. I was going to invite you upstairs, but..." She pulled out a few slabs of thickly sliced bacon, and threw them in next to the pancake. His mouth began to water.

"No, no. You're fine. I am going to go get changed."

"M'kay. Then, we will feast!" She threw her wooden spoon triumphantly up in the air and wagged it around, as if it were a sword.

He laughed, and walked down the hallway to his room. He quickly tidied up his room for good measure before heading over to the connected bathroom, and turning on the shower. Letting it get nice and steamy before hopping in. He felt hungover, so he let the water rush over him.

The rush of emotion last night, the night on the couch, Fiona. All of the scenes from the night before flashed by in his mind. He began to critique them, and find faults in every word that he had said. He had let himself speak openly with her, like he would have to Jake if he was around. He found that he had no filter around her, and that was dangerous. He found it dangerous, but also exhilarating.

He turned off the water, and let the steam spill off of his body as he grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around his waste. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. He rubbed at the bags under his eyes, that had been a constant reminder of how little sleep he was getting over the past few months. He rubbed his chin. A slight morning stubble had arisen on his chin. He rubbed at it, thinking about not shaving it.

_Maybe she likes men with beards... Wait? What the hell am I thinking? I don't like Fiona, she is just a friend... I need to be there for her, from how she acted last night, I think she has enough drama in her life at the moment... _

He decided to shave it. He emerged from the bathroom as Fiona called that breakfast was ready.

"I'll be out in a minute!" He called as he threw on a pair of pressed trousers, a dry-cleaned white button up, the iconic black tie with the VA crest, and his big slouchy sweater. He ran back into the bathroom at the last moment and grabbed a pair of silver studs that he had thrown into his soap dish a few months earlier after Jake had convinced him to get his ears pierced. He painfully jabbed them in his partly-closed piercings and squeaked in pain. He also pulled a small elastic from his second drawer, and pulled up his hair into a tiny ponytail like he did when he worked out. He stepped back, and admired himself in the mirror.

_ Not too shabby, if I do say so myself..._

He grabbed his backpack which sat next to his desk, and wander out into the formal dining room. Fiona stood next to the table, which was covered with a spread of bacon pancakes, freshly brewed coffee, orange juice, yogurt, and fresh fruit.

_Was she waiting for him?_

"I didn't know how hungry you were, so I just made a lot." She smiled at him as she pulled out a chair, and sat at the far end of the table. A similar setting had been placed before him on his side of the table. His stomach growled, and he licked his lips hungrily.

"Thanks!" He beamed."I haven't had this great of a breakfast since... Well, to be honest, I can't remember the last time I had this great of a breakfast."

* * *

Half way through their meal, his watch beeped. He looked at it. "Crap..."

"What is it?" She said worriedly.

"We are going to be late."

"Okay, I will start cleaning up..."

"Why would you do that?" He raised an eyebrow. "That's what we have maids for, don't worry she will be in soon. My father insisted on us having a live in maid and butler, but since he isn't home much, I have disregarded his request. "

She blushed. "Sorry, I forgot."

He smiled at her as he wiped his mouth, stood up, and pushed his chair in. "You're not used to this whole lap of luxury thing are you?"

She blushed and shook her head 'no'.

"It's alright. It can take some getting used to... Don't worry. I can help you if you want it."

She looked up at him, still sitting in her chair. "Let's start right now." He continued. "Lesson numero uno: When a young lady is sitting at a table," He walked over to her. "A gentleman such as myself must come over and pull the seat out for her..." He leaned in a little bit too closely as he pulled the chair out for her. He smelled like peppermint and the ocean. She started to get up, but he held a hand out to stop her. "And then he must offer the young lady his hand." He bowed a little as he offered her his hand. She cautiously took it, and stood up with his help. "There we go. Lesson one of being a proper upper crust lady. Complete!" He smiled.

"Well thank you, sir." She said curtsying to him.

"See? She learns so quickly!"

His watch beeped again. "Oh my! We really are going to be late if we don't get out the door, pronto!"

She nodded. "Okay, I have to go grab my backpack. Can I meet you outside in a few minutes?"

* * *

She raced back up the stairs, and grabbed her backpack, her phone from it's charger, and her bunny hat.

_I think I will finally wear it, maybe it will give me strength today..._

She ran over to the mirror in her closet, and carefully set the white, fluffy hat on top of her head. She nodded to her reflection, and then raced out the door.

_I never used to care about my appearance this much before. Maybe I am getting too used to this world... _

She met Finn outside on the sidewalk, which was already filling with the daily bustle of commuters. His eyes grew wide as she walked up to him.

"Fiona, I love the hat!"

"Really?" She replied as she thoughtfully adjusted it.

"Yeah, it's very... you. I don't know how to describe it, it just really suits you." He winked.

"Wow, thank you. I like the studs and ponytail as well." She smiled as they started walking up the street.

He blushed. "Thanks. I decided to go for a bit of a new look."

"Well it really suits you."

His watch beeped for the third time. "Shit."

"What?"

"The bell is about to ring."

"Well then what are we doing here?" She ran ahead of him, holding onto her hat with one hand to keep it from flying off.

**"HEY! WAIT UP!"** He called after her, laughing and running to catch up.

_I can do this._ They both thought as they barreled down the street and laughed as they dodged through large clumps of commuters.


	9. The Twisted Prince

**Chapter 9: Twisted Prince**

"Aw man, I can't believe we got detention for being late." She whined to Finn as they walked out of Chemistry together.

"It serves us right for trying to enjoy your breakfast and then leaving it halfway eaten. We should have just finished it, and strolled leisurely to class, and we would have received the same punishment." He grinned at her sideways and looked down at the matching pink slips they had both been handed on their way out the door by Ms. B.

"Yeah..." She sighed shrugging.

"I guess you will just have to make it for me again." He winked.

She smacked his shoulder with a chemistry book. "What makes you think I am going to make it for you again you entitled little shit?"

"Simple." He had walked a few paces ahead of her, and now turned around to face her, walking backwards down the hall. "I will bribe you with access to my practice room."

Fiona's mouth watered._ Well, that might just be enough incentive... _

"Oh yeah, before I forget, where is Jake?" She said, attempting to change the subject.

Finn's expression darkened at the question. "I dunno, it's not like I am his keeper or anything." He replied briskly. Trying not to dwell too long on the subject. He was having such a good time today with Fiona. Why let thoughts of Jake ruin his mood?

Fiona could tell that Jake had become a sensitive subject with him. "Look man, I'm sorry. It's none of my business. You guys just used to be so close..."

"Used to be being the key word." Finn scowled.

* * *

The day progressed pretty normally. Fiona and Finn ate lunch together outside under the falling leaves without the aid of Jake to keep the conversation going. They were beginning to enjoy one another's company.

_I don't see how we can't be closer after last night... _She thought to herself as she waved goodbye to Finn and headed to her dreaded sixth period, Remedial Algebra.

_I mean Finn is sweet, kind, and he doesn't make fun of me when I don't know which fork to use. Which is pretty uncommon in this place... S_he glanced down the hallways as she passed by a group of model-thin underclassmen. One of them had hair so white it almost looked like snow, and her skin so pale it almost sparkled. Her skirt was rolled up uncomfortably high, giving the passing jocks a nice view of her toned thighs, and her shirt was unbuttoned to so the top of her cleavage was very visible.

_Oh brother... _

"Have you seen that third year Finn around? Talk about hawt..." The underclassman said, putting particular emphasis on the last word while melodramatically fanning herself. "With those studs and ponytail! I mean I don't know why he doesn't look like that more often, he is actually drop dead gorgeous!"

"He probably doesn't want sluts like you, Icey, chasing him all the time." One of the other girls with black silky hair, and severely-cut bangs joked.

The blond turned on the girl, and if looks could kill, the poor girl would have been vaporized. The look the blond shot her was so intense.

"Well perhaps if I you had any boobs." The blond replied, looking the unfortunate joker up and down as if she were a piece of meat. "You would get more action like I do." She hissed. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, and storming down the hallway. The other girl, who seemed to be the unfortunate joker's twin sister, jogged frantically after her, not wanting her sister's transgressions to be passed on to her.

Fiona was appalled. _Man, what a jerk. If I were her I would have... Wait, was she talking about Finn? My Finn? Well, he's not mine, but he is my friend. And Finn? Hot? What did she mean? Finn looks the same as he does everyday, a little shift in one's style isn't that detrimental, is it? _

Her mind flashed back to the night before. Finn leaning shirtless against the door frame of the practice room. _Well I guess he isn't too bad on the eyes, especially without his shirt on, but those girls are only interested in him because of his looks. They don't care about Finn at all. They are just using him. How dare they!_

She began to quicken her pace. I really can't risk being late again.

"You're thinking about me aren't you?" A hushed whisper pressed against her neck.

She turned to face a smiling Marshall. She rolled her eyes. "Don't you have some love poetry to read?" She replied, waving him off.

He staggered back and pretended to clutch his chest in agony, no doubt making fun of Bernabon. "Oh. That was rough." He glanced up at her waiting for her reaction as she trotted by, determined not to be pulled into anymore of his hi-jinx, she ignored him.

He stood up, straightened his tie, and trailed her. Seemingly unfazed by her dismissive behavior.

"I can understand if you are intimidated by me." He said on a serious note.

"Why is that?" She stood outside of their next class period and glared up at him. _Had he completely forgotten about yesterday? _

He slid his bangs back with his hand, and posed like a model. "It is because I am so handsome. Most girls faint in my very presence. You must have a particularly strong spirit to have lasted this long in my presence."

She rolled her eyes again and opened the door to Coach Algebra's room. He sat at his desk, and looked up at them through small, pink reading glasses.

"Oh Mr. Lee, how nice of you to grace us with your presence today." He said, eyeing Marshall without the least bit of fear.

Marshall was trapped. "You tricked me!" He spat at her.

"And how is that?" She replied innocently.

"You should have told me where you were going."

"To class, where else?"

Marshall eyed her, but said nothing as they walked into the classroom, and she took her normal spot in the middle of the front row, it was hard not to be fully engaged in a class when you were the only student who showed up on a regular basis...

"Unlike you, Marshall." She looked up at him, setting her backpack down next to her desk. "I like to actually get something back from all the money my guardian pumps into sending me to this prestigious school." She gestured to the classroom, as if they were in a grand hall.

"Sit." Coach Algebra barked to Marshall, who was still brooding over Fiona as she pulled out a pen and notebook and ignored him. He glared at her one last time before assuming his seat in the first row next to the window.

"I will punish you for this..." Marshall hissed as Coach Algebra turned his back to them to being writing the lesson notes up on the board.

She nodded sweetly to him, pretending she had not heard him, and turned her attention back to the board.

The next twenty minutes where complete torture for Marshall. Coach Algebra took away his MP3 player, and his phone after he had tried to listen to them during class within the first five mintues. Insisting that it made him concentrate on the lesson more, but coachie wasn't having any of it. Next, he moved Marshall away from the window to look on with Fiona, since he hadn't done any of the homework, and he had 'forgotten his book' in the first ten mintues. And finally, this was more of a punishment for Fiona than Marshall, Coach Algebra had taken away her phone after Marshall had tried to take her's in an attempt to drone out the lesson, in the first fifteen mintues. When Coach Algebra finally released them from their studious captivity, he breathed a deep sigh of relief and glanced at Fiona.

She glared at him.

"Kids, I have to go make some copies for my next class, can I trust you to stay on target?"

"Of course you can Coachie. Fi and I won't get up to too much trouble. Will we Fi?" Marshall arched an eyebrow at her, refusing to break eye contact with her glare to look up at the dismissive Algebra teacher he addressed.

"It's not her I am worried about..." Coach Algebra replied as he closed the door behind him. Fiona broke her glare to gaze at the closing door. _No, please don't leave me in the room with him!_

She could hear the slow click of his heels become fainter as he disappeared down the hallway. She took a deep, slow, unsteady breath, and peeled her eyes from the door.

"So Fiona..." He began, his face hovering only inches from hers as he licked his lips, like he had yesterday against the tree. "How have you been?"

She continued to glare at him, and say nothing. Hoping that she looked more menacing than she felt. He smirked and pulled her desk closer to his, bringing their faces together. She struggled as he pressed his lips once again to hers, but this time, she wasn't pinned to a tree. She threw him across the room. He quickly recovered, and shoved his hands in his pockets, acting like nothing had happened, and strolled back over to her desk.

"Temper, temper, temper!" He jeered. "Has anyone ever told you that you have a nasty temper on you?"

"Only those who have the audacity to kiss me not once, but twice without my permission." She continued to stare him down as he walked closer to her.

He stopped a few feet short of her desk. "Oh come on, I know you liked it. You didn't seem to put up much of a fight that first time..." He shifted his weight onto his left foot, and smiled sweetly at her.

She blushed. He winked at her and stuck his tongue out. "Well, I do like them fiery. I think I will keep you."

"Keep me? You don't have the power to keep me." She spat.

Meanwhile, he had wandered over to their teacher's desk, and pulled out their confiscated electronics from the first drawer. "Oh really? Is that what you think?" He threw her phone to her, which she barely caught before it hit the ground.

"Yes. It is." She replied, dusting off her bunny case, and inspecting it for scratches and dents.

"Well, I have a little news for you, honey." He walked towards her, but she leapt from her desk, and retreated backwards. He cornered her, pressing her against the door, her only exit. His body pressed tighter than the last time, up against her. She moaned a little at his weight. "You can buy anything with money. Anything." He whispered sweetly into her ear. "Anything."

She met his gaze. "So you are going to treat me like Bernabon's family treated Marceline?" His eyes grew wide.

"If that is what it takes..." His response frightened her.

There was a sudden turning of the handle on the door. As quick as lightening they flew back to their seats. Fiona still slightly flushed. The bell rang as Coach Algebra opened the door. She flew from the room, wanting to get as faraway from Marshall as possible.

His words still burning in her ears. _Does he really have that sort of power?_

* * *

"Hey Fiona, are you okay?" Finn glanced at her worriedly, lowering his foil.

She snapped back from her thoughts. "Yeah dude, I am fine. I think I am just a little tired. I didn't get much sleep last night." She looked down at the foil in her hands.

"Are you sure? I mean, I just won two matches in a row... You just seem to be going through the motions today... Which is fine!" He added hesitantly.

"Yeah. I guess I am." She dropped to the middle of the mat they had been practicing on. "I am not looking forward to detention after school, I can tell you that much." She said trying to change the subject._ I don't know what to do about Marshall, and I don't want to bother Finn with anymore stuff right now. It looks like he had enough on his plate with Jake and all. I need to be there for him... _

He cracked a smile and poked at her with his foil. "So that is what you are worried about?"

She nodded, hoping her lie was convincing.

"Well you shouldn't be. Detention really isn't that bad. You just have to sit around and do nothing. Sometimes a teacher will come in and grab you to do odd jobs for them, but they only do that if they like you. Maybe Coach Algebra will invite you to grade some papers for him. You are his favorite person in sixth period after all." He chuckled at his own joke.

"Besides..." He continued, offering her a hand to help her up from the mat. She gladly took it. He pulled her up with ease as if she were as light as a feather. _How much time did he spend at 'practice' everyday? Sheeesh... _

"Alright Ladies and Gents, we are calling it quits for today." Mrs. Muscles barked. Flipping off the lights in the practice room. Throwing them into darkness, the only source of light coming from the partially-closed blinds above them. One of the thin beams of sunlight streaming across Finn's eyes, making them flash a steely blue. She stood, mesmerized by his eyes for a moment as the remaining section of the class raced for the lockers room.

"Besides..." He repeated in a breathy whisper. "I will be there too..." He smiled still holding onto her hand while helping her up. He looked down at it, and kissed it like a gentleman, his lips soft and gentle, not like Marshall's kisses at all. He walked away. His silhouette growing smaller and farther away as he walked towards the exit.

_Glob..._ Her cheeks grew red. _Thank glob I was in the dark... _

As she stepped from the cool darkness of the practice room, and into the poorly-lit hallway, a strong hand grabbed at her arm.

"There you are." A deep voice bellowed. She looked up at her attacker, it was Pep, his dark hair slicked back carefully, his black suit perfectly ironed and without a trace of lint.

"Hey let me go Pep!" She struggled against his grasp, but he only tightened his already ironclad grasp of her arm, causing her to stop struggling, thus easing his grasp.

"Do not tell me you forgot about your appointment for after school..." He smiled sadisticly down at her, still holding her arm.

Her eyes grew wide. _Oh glob, I completely forgot. _

"From the look on your face, I am guessing you forgot." He smirked raising an eyebrow. "Its is of no matter..." He finally released her arm from his death grip. She rubbed her arm where his fingers had been, bruises were beginning to form. "I have already collected all of his assignments." He drew a piece of paper folded into fours from his inside breast pocket, and waved it in her face mockingly.

"Good now you can..." She started, glaring up at him.

"But I still must provide your presence for Master Schweet." He interrupted, resting his chin in the valley between his thumb and pointer finger, and stepping back to take in her current PE uniform. He shook his head. "Well that simply won't do..."

"Ms. Keadersen, why are you still not in the locker rooms?" Mrs. Muscles bellowed at her, strutting aggressively over to where she stood next to Pep.

Pep glanced momentarily up at the gym teacher barreling towards them, and then muttered "Sorry Love." to Fiona before hitting her hard in her lower abdomen.

All of the air had been forced out of her lungs, and she doubled over in pain as Mrs. Muscles approached. He caught her before she could hit the ground, and supported her. Wrapping one hand under her stomach, and the other over her lower back. She couldn't speak, Pep took the opportunity.

"And you must be the lovely Mrs. Muscles my Fiona keeps telling me all about." He smiled at Mrs. Muscles stopped in her tracks and stammered, taken aback by Pep's charm and good looks.

"A-a-a-and who m-m-may I ask-k-k are you?" She managed to stutter out after a few moments of uncomfortable silence spent staring at him.

He flashed her another bright smile, ignoring the awkward silence. "I am none other than Ms. Keadersen's family butler! Here, my card." He produced a small, white business card from nowhere like a smoothly executed magic trick, and handed it to the speechless Mrs. Muscles.

She gingerly took it from his gloved and read it as he quickly continued. "You see, my dear little Fiona here has some... personal issues..." He leaned in closer to Mrs. Muscles, causing her to blush lightly and whispered. "It is of a feminine matter, I hope you understand..."

Fiona glanced up from her stupor momentarily, looking horrified as Mrs. Muscles nodded knowingly and Pep continued. "So I must be getting her home. She really is quite a bit more delicate than she lets on." He held her chin in his hand and cooed at her, oozing fake parental protection and love from every pore.

"Do what you must. I will leave her in your caring hands." Mrs. Muscles waved at Fiona, unable to break contact with Pep's entrancing stare, almost as if he was charming her into believing his faulty story.

"Thank you Mrs. Muscles!" Pep winked at her, causing her to blush a deep pink. "And I must say, Fiona was not lying to me when she said that you were quite the looker."

"I neve..." Fiona began before Pep swiftly kneed her in the stomach with the same deadly accuracy of earlier, causing all of the air to escape out of her lungs once again. Mrs. Muscles never breaking from Pep's charming gaze.

"You see? Delicate as a spring rose. So I really must be going." He walked past Mrs. Muscles, still supporting Fiona with his arms.

"Well what about her uniform? Shouldn't she get changed before she leaves?" She called after the briskly walking pair.

Pep rolled his eyes and quickened their pace, acting as if he hadn't heard her. His snake-like charm gone.

Finn, now changed back into his uniform, was wandering out of the boy's locker room, rubbing at his damp hair with a towel as Fiona and Pep disappeared outside.

"Where was Fiona going?" He asked Mrs. Muscles worriedly.

Mrs. Muscles didn't reply. Only stared dreamily as the butler disappeared.

_She didn't tell me about leaving early... _

* * *

Pep pushed her forcefully in the back seat of the same black car she had met Bernabon in the pervious evening. She was beginning to recover from Pep's powerful blows as Pep took his place in the front passenger seat next to the driver and ordered him to drive. The car lurched forward, flinging her up against the front seats.

"Ouch." She groaned.

"Sorry about that." He smiled deviously.

She glared at him, and sat up and buckled her seatbelt. "No you're not."

"Yeah, you're right." He continued to smile before turning once again to face forward. "By the way." He turned to her once more. "I will not allow you to meet Master Schweet in such attire, I must have you change."

Fiona shrugged, trying not to be offended by his dismissal of her PE uniform. "Well maybe if you had let me change back into my uniform..."

"Not good enough." Pep interrupted.

"Then we can swing by my house if you are that insistent about it..." She continued.

"Like I would let Master Schweet see you in such... off the rack clothing." He sneered at the very thought.

"Excuse me, are my clothes not good enough for you?"

"They are fine for me, but not for me to present you before Master Schweet. His life does not need anymore ugly things in it..." He looked her up and down once again.

"That's it! I am so out of here! You can deliver the homework to princey yourself." She moved towards the handle to open the car door. Pep nodded to the driver, who pressed a button, making all of the doors lock. She scratched at the locks, but they did not budge. Pep pulled at a lever under his seat, allowing himself to adjust forwards and backwards with ease. He slammed his seat backwards, pressing Fiona between the two seats. She winced at the sudden pressure on her sore belly.

"Three things you must know about me Ms. Keadersen: One, I do not allow anyone to call Master Schweet by such a crude nickname. Two: I am not the most amicable man in the word, so I would suggest you refrain from causing me any trouble, and Three, I am paid too much to not do precisely what Master Schweet and his family ask of me..." He pressed the seat closer, making her gasp, she felt like she was squished between two quickly closing in walls. "Do you understand me? I am paid the very best, so I preform the very best."

She managed a weak "yes." with her last breath.

"Very well, since we now understand each other." He pulled on the handle, and pulled himself smoothly forward, so he was no longer crushing Fiona. She took a deep, shaky breath.

_Who is this guy? And why the hell would someone as sweet as Bubba put up with him? Her mind flashed back to Cake's explanation last night. Well, maybe Bubba, I mean Bernabon isn't that nice... I need to keep my wits about me..._

* * *

They rolled into a large garage, that seemed more like a automobile museum than a garage. Cars from ranging eras lined the edges of the football field-sized room. Pep flung open the backdoor, and pulled Fiona from the backseat by her elbow. The driver scurried out of his away as if he were afraid of what Pep might do to him. Although she could understand why, since he had heard Pep's threats in the car.

"This way." He said sharply, leading her over to a door the same color as the room. He pulled it open with the same force as he had used to open the door, sending it backwards and slamming into the wall. No doubt breaking the sheetrock

_Man does this guy have a temper on him... _

The door opened to a long, narrow corridor. The walls were painted a rich light yellow, and the molding was gold. Pep continued to drag her down the hallway, then suddenly swooped into a connecting hallway that looked exactly the same as the first. He zigzagged around several more times as they passed lots of closed doors. Some had numbers on them, others were cracked ajar, displaying a smoking kitchen with a heavyset cook with a thick, well oiled mustache, or a room full of blinking lights and wires. All the servants they passed scurried out of Pep's way like the driver had earlier.

"Where are..."

"You are walking through the servant's corridors. I do not deem you worthy of the front entrance." Pep glared back at her, picking up his pace.

"Are you telling me that were we entered wasn't the front entrance?" She gaped.

"You really don't know anything about high society, do you?" Pep spat back at her, disgusted by her ignorance. "Why Master Schweet would be interested in anything so... Low. Is beyond me."

"Who are you calling 'low'? You nasty oof!" Pep halted suddenly causing her to run into him. She looked over his shoulder and noticed that he had fished a large set of keys from his pocket. He jammed one into the keyhole, and quickly turned it clockwise. It clicked, and the door swung open, revealing an enormous room with a vaulted ceiling decorated elaborately to look like a map of the heavens. To her right, was a great staircase with a showy rug falling from the top of the staircase high above her to the doors to her left. It dwarfed the garage in comparison. Everything about this room was elaborate and over the top, especially the sheer size of everything.

"We do not have time to gape. Come." Pep grabbed her by her arm once more, and pulled her up the grand staircase, and to the left.

"CB! Oh CB! I need your help!" Pep called throwing open a random door, and pulling her inside.

Fiona gapped at the room she had entered. The room she was in was absolutely beautiful. The walls were covered in a rich deep red wallpaper with small gold flowers. There was a window on the far end of the room which was surrounded by velvety red fabric, a small warm lamp lit in the corner of the room served as the only source of light. Several units of furniture were placed into little alcoves along the wall, almost like a waiting room. A woman with rich brown hair, red lips, and a small mole below the right corner of her mouth stood up from her seat. She had a large bust, a small waist, and large hips. She wore a tight gray jacket with matching pencil skirt with a loosely buttoned white buttoned underneath. While she balanced her weight onto two seven-inch stiletto heels.

"No CB, please do not stand. She is not worth your time." Pep addressed her, holding up a hand.

She hesitantly lowered back down to her seat.

"I need you to make this peasant look presentable before she can see Master Schweet." He shoved Fiona in front of him, and walked briskly out the door. Leaving Fiona staring eye to eye with the woman called 'CB'.

CB smiled and looked up at Fiona through a pair of reading glasses, though she seemed too young to need them. "Don't worry. His bark is a lot worse than his bite."

Fiona returned CB's smile nervously.

"Now let's see how we can gussie you up for Master Schweet." She winked at Fiona, and clicked her way over to a pair of double doors, which she gracefully pulled open in one fluid motion, revealing a seemingly endless closet.

_Cake would have fainted... _

* * *

After Fiona had been scrubbed, plucked, dried, and scented to CB's liking, it was finally time to try on clothes.

CB stepped back and looked her up and down.

_I am really tired of these rich people looking at me like I am a piece of meat..._

"I have just the thing!" CB exclaimed as she scurried into the depths of the endless closet.

After several moments of her darting around, snatching different pieces of clothing. She returned to Fiona, now panting and sweaty.

"Try this on!" She flung the clothing at Fiona, who caught most of it, and disappeared behind the changing curtain. It was a positively pink polka dotted dress with white wedges. She slipped it on. It fit like a glove.

_This is what Cake must be talking about when she says some clothing just feels 'right'..._

She stepped out where CB was waiting. CB squealed with delight. "I knew it would look good on you!" She tugged Fiona over to a decked out makeup station complete with a lighted mirror and the works.

CB chatted cheerfully as she applied light makeup and styled her hair into a soft curl.

"I am the live-in stylist incase you were wondering what I do here..." CB continued to chat away.

Fiona's mind wandered to thoughts of Bernabon. _Can I face him after learning what he has done? Can I trust this twisted prince? _

"Are you ready to see the finished 'you'?" CB asked playfully, making her last touches with dusts of hairspray to her curls. Fiona nodded, and CB swung her around. She gasped.

"I look like something out of one of Cake's magazines..." She breathed, not believing her own reflection.

"Well it is my job after all!" CB winked. Fiona smiled back at her, a genuine smile this time. She liked CB and her quirkiness.

"I must admit Ms. Keadersen, you do clean up well..." Fiona looked up in the mirror. Pep was sitting on the couch behind them, leisurely sipping a cup of tea. He winked at her. She scowled.

"Is she ready to go now, CB?" He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly.

CB pouted her lips, and admired Fiona one last time. "I'd say so."

"So be it." Pep replied. Placing his tea cup on its saucer, and then silently placing it on a tea tray.

"Come Ms. Keadersen, we have made Master Schweet wait long enough."

She said nothing, but got up from her chair as Pep solemnly opened the door for her.

CB grabbed her hand as she walked out. "You are the first girl Bernabon has ever brought home, I think that means you are pretty special." She winked. "I dressed you in his favorite colors, may that bring you luck." She kissed Fiona's cheek, and scurried away before Pep could yell at them for wasting time.

More winding hallways, and they finally arrived at the entrance to Bernabon's quarters. Pep ordered her to wait outside while he went inside. She pressed her ear to the door, but all she could make out was Pep's deep, masculine voice, but not Bernabon's. After about five minutes, she heard footsteps nearing the door. She pulled away just as Pep walked silently out. He held his jaw tight, like he had been fighting and lost. It was hard to imagine Pep losing in a fight, but she liked the idea of it.

"Master Schweet will see you now." He mumbled.

She nodded, he opened the door for her, and she walked briskly inside the room, holding her head high.

_What now?_


	10. Ice

**Chapter 10: Ice **

The room was as large as a ballroom. Windows made up one wall, similar to her apartment. They looked out over an immaculately groomed English style garden. The floor was marble, which made her wedges click as she walked.

_Maybe I should have practiced a little more like CB had suggested..._ She thought nervously.

Bernabon sat at a large antique desk, but the desk and well as Bernabon were both dwarfed by the size of the room. He wore a light pink dress shirt, a loose, brown vest, and a pair of dress pants.

_Even when he is sick he dresses so nicely... _

She couldn't help but compare his home to Finn's. Finn's was so welcoming and condensed, but Bernabon's was large and exquisite.

_Cold. That's what his home was. It was cold, his house did not feel lived it. It felt worked in. The army of servants that worked behind the scenes, and seemed to control every aspect of the house that Bernabon let them, Pep being a prime example. _

Bernabon looked up from some papers he was pretending to be engrossed in to meet Fiona's eyes. His eyes grew wide as he watched her walk towards her desk. She felt extremely self conscious. She didn't know where to place her eyes, so she settled on pretending to look out at the enormous garden behind him. The sky was growing dark and heavy_. It looks like there is going to be one hell of a storm soon... _

"Fiona, you-you-you look... beautiful." Was the only word he could think of.

She smiled. "Good afternoon Bernabon."

He continued to stare. It made her feel uncomfortable. She clenched her fists. She realized that a slip of paper was in her hand. On closer inspection, she realized that Pep must have slipped her the assignments as she walked into the room. It was the only explanation.

_The sooner I give him his assignments, the sooner I can leave this place. She glanced nervously up at the quickly approaching clouds again. _

Bernabon placed his fountain pen down, and rose from his desk. "It is so good to see you again!" He strode over to her, and took her hands in his, stepping back to admire CB's handiwork.

She couldn't help but blush. "Bernabon, you saw me yesterday." She corrected him.

He cocked his head to the side and was thoughtful for a moment. "Yes, I believe you are right, but it has just seemed to be so much longer."

She giggled. She couldn't help herself. _It was the same old Bernabon. What was I thinking asking other people? She thought with a tinge of embarrassment. Why didn't I just talk to Bernabon in the first place? I had his number. Nothing was stopping me, but other people telling me what a bad guy he was._

She glanced up at his sweet face, and even sweeter hair. Which had regained it bubblegum sheen.

"Oh yes, here are your assignments." She slipped her hands from his, replacing them with the piece of paper instead. He glanced down at it with disinterest. He seemed to be much more interested in her.

"Come with me." He smiled. Taking her by the hand once again, and leading her gently through the ballroom-sized study. At the far end of the room was another doorway, with two matching male servants waiting to open the doors for them. They bowed simultaneously to Bernabon as he entered, he ignored them. Fiona nodded to them in acknowledgement. They bowed curtly to her, and then exchanged glances. Her heart began to beat a little faster. Their expressions were unreadable to her peasant eyes.

They walked into a dome-shaped room. The walls draped with the same heavy curtains she had seen in CB's closet, but these were a deep emerald green. Small old fashioned gas lamps hung from the walls between each set, casting a warm glow on the floors and ceiling. The high ceiling was decorated with the same astrological patterns that were in the grand entrance, and in the very middle, a circular skylight revealed the ominous sky above. Bookshelves hung full of heavy, dusty books. Below the skylight, there were two long desks facing each other.

She released his hand and wandered around the room. He leaned against one of the many bookshelves and watched her intently. She pulled back one of the curtains. Behind each were more windows looking out over the same garden. Rolls of ivy curled around the bottom of each window, and she could see a small stone pathway disappear into a deep thicket.

_I wonder what is out there... It doesn't seem like the kind of grounds that would have superfluous pathways stretching to nowhere..._

Bernabon cleared his throat. "Do you like it?"

"It is like something out of a fairytale..."

"Good, because I was thinking that since I am a little more... restricted with my activity," He looked bashfully at the floor. "I could tutor you here instead of at the cafe..."

Her eyes grew wide. "Here? You mean I would come here after school?"

He nodded. "Yes, Pep as well as the doctors where insistent on me taking it easy for the time being, but I since our discussion yesterday when you were insistent that we continue our tutoring, I had to make some compromises..."

"I don't remember being the only one insistent on continuing out nonexistent tutoring sessions..." She teased.

He rubbed at his neck, and looked down at the floor again. "I had it redecorated to something more welcoming, this used to just be an empty room." It was his poor attempt to change the subject. She took the bait out of politeness, but she was determined to not let Bernabon forget that he was the one insistent on their continuation, not just her.

"I am surprised that you were able to get this done in just one day..."

"Well what can I say? Pep is good at troop morale." He finally looked up at her. "Fiona, there is something I need to tell you..."

At that moment Pep flung the doors open, throwing them into blinding light of Bernabon's study.

"Master Schweet, supper will commence shortly, you will have to say goodbye to your little friend." He sneered at Fiona.

"Well I don't see why she cannot stay for supper Pep." He replied, never taking his eyes off of Fiona, smiling apologetically at his butler's coarse behavior.

Pep was taken aback at this, acting as if what Bernabon had suggested the impossible.

"Oh no, I really must be going..." She began.

"Nonsense! Do you have other plans?" He raised an eyebrow, almost daring her to say she did.

Her mind flashed back to the empty apartment. Cake is out of town, and I would just be returning to an empty apartment...

"I believe Ms. Keadersen's guardian is out of town at the moment, Master Schweet." Pep interrupted. "And we really must have her home before nightfall, I mean she is so young and vulnerable. I would hate to have her return to her apartment in the dark." Pep flashed his snake-charmer's smile at Bernabon, but his plan backfired.

Bernabon's princely complex kicked in, and the fact that it was Fiona no less threw him over the edge.

"Pep, why did you not inform me sooner? Why we could never do that to Fiona!"

Pep's smile grew, assuming that Bernabon was agreeing with his suggestion to send her home.

He snapped his fingers. "Why we could never let Fiona go back to that empty apartment in the big city!"

"It's really not that big of a deal..." She replied curtly.

"No, no, no, but it is Fiona! I could never let my precious pupil spend the night alone in a strange city she has just moved to! The only solution is for you to spend the night."

Pep's mouth began to gape in shock at his master's suggestion. "But Master Schweet, we do not have any of the guest suites prepared! Since your parents are abroad for the next few months, I took the liberty of renovating all of them!"

"Simultaneously?" Bernabon raised an eyebrow of suspicion at Pep's story.

"Well, not all of them," He admitted. "but they are all so close to each other, I would not like a delicate a lady as Ms. Keadersen to have to inhale any of the stray fumes from the current remodels..." His eyes looked pleadingly at Bernabon, but he ignored his butler's unwillingness.

"Well if that is truly the case, then there is no choice other than to let Fiona sleep in my apartments..." He replied, raising his hands and shaking his head in exasperation.

"Well...well... I am sure that I could procure a room for her after all..." Pep stuttered, growing more distressed with his master's replies and general willingness to let someone he deemed so 'low' sleep not only in his house, but now in his personal apartments.

"And have Fiona's health risked due to your inability to plan things out." Bernabon replied a little harder than necessary, it was evident that he was growing tired of his excuses.

"But..." Pep began, slicking the loose strands of his hair back into its perfectly gelled mass.

"No more 'buts' Pep, now please see to it that one of my apartment rooms are prepared to suit Ms. Keadersen." Bernabon had cut him off, ordering him in a very regal manner.

Fiona was a little shocked, the though of someone actually having the courage to order Pep was surprising. But I guess Pep was right, he delivers Bernabon the worth he is paid...

"As you wish, Master Schweet." Pep glared at Fiona, then bowed to Bernabon, and stormed out of the room like a spoiled child that had finally been put in his place.

Bernabon let out a loud sigh and smiled at her. "Sorry you had to see that, sometimes he just gets so fickle about the strangest things. I really don't understand where he gets the audacity to continue argue with me about my orders."

She returned his smile. "Maybe he needs to be put back into his place every one in a while."

He nodded. "But I hate to be so cruel..."

"Master Schweet?" It was CB at the entrance Pep had just disappeared from.

"Yes CB?"

CB played with her hands nervously. "I have been instructed to prepare Ms. Keadersen for Supper. If that is alright with you..." She glanced up at him for a moment, but looked down at the floor once again after he met her gaze. Why were all these people so intimidated by Bernabon?

"Yes CB, that is a grand idea. I too shall go get changed for supper." He winked at Fiona, and strolled out of the room. As soon as the door had swung shut behind him CB rushed over to Fiona and grabbed her hands. CB's were clammy and shaking.

"Pep is not happy about you staying Fiona, I just want to warn you that, and Pep is tricky. Please be on your guard during dinner." She squeezed her hands encouragingly, and forced a smile.

"Now come on, let's see what we can do for your big dinner date." CB winked, forcing herself into a pseudo-cheerful mood. This only made Fiona angry. Who does this Pep guy think he is?

* * *

The door to Bernabon's dressing room clicked open, and Pep let the light fall onto a small sliver of his face. "Master Schweet, supper is ready."

Bernabon was standing in front of a mirror, admiring himself. "Please come in Pep, I must have a quick word with you."

Pep groaned like a teenager, and reluctantly stepped inside Bernabon's dressing room. "What is it Master Schweet?"

Bernabon turned his attention away from straightening his tie in the mirror, and his eyes narrowed on Pep's tall, dark from. "Pep, is everything in place?"

Pep clicked his heels together and saluted. "Yes Master Schweet." He chanted, imitating a soldier.

Bernabon rolled his eyes, and turned his attention back to the tie. "You can really stop that Pep. And don't think I haven't noticed how roughly you treated Fiona today..."

Pep swallowed hard. _Bernabon Schweet may be able to play a sweet prince to those he wanted to impress, but Pep knew whose child he was. Pep knew he could be just as cruel and conniving as any other piece of trash that clogged the hallways of the esteemed Vincent Academy, but what they lacked was breeding. Bernabon on the other hand, had been molded many generations of meticulous planning and breeding. He would one day assume the position among a few men who controlled most of the corporate conglomerates on the face of the earth. Yes, this boy was born and bred to control power, but also to be controlled by it. He wore a painted mask of princely charm, that covered a twisted and determined mind. The last thing Pep needed was some goodie-two-shoes new money girl coming in, and wiping away Bernabon's ancestor's ultimate plan of power and glory. Couldn't Bernabon see that Pep only did this for his own good? Or had he worn the mask of princely charm too long, was he actually becoming a caring young man instead of a twisted Prince Charming he was raised to one day become?_

"Well Pep? Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Pep looked Bernabon dead in the eyes, acting as if they were equals instead of master and servant. None of the other servants had the audacity to do so, but to be fair, Pep wasn't like most servants...

"Master Schweet, I am only trying to do what is best for you, and for your future." Pep bowed.

"And what makes it your right to do such a thing?"

"Because your parents left you in my care." Pep knew that this comment was underhanded, he knew how Bernabon felt about his estranged relationship, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and Pep had determined the quick extinction of any relationship between the two teenagers to be the best action.

"You are right Pep." Bernabon replied in a sickly sweet voice. Pep looked at his young master in confusion. "My parents are not here." He continued. "But you are not a substitution for them, you are simply a babysitter, an overpaid, bitchy babysitter, and if I find that you have EVER laid a finger on Fiona again, and treat her the way you treated her earlier today. Well..."

Bernabon strode over to him, and stood eye to eye with the butler who had raised him. His face was unreadable and frightening. "I want you to know that there are worse things than losing an paycheck or two..."

Pep waited until Bernabon left the room, and then smiled to himself. "I obviously do not give myself enough credit. Why was I frightened of this girl making him lose this ferocity." He chuckled. "She actually inhibits in. Oh Bernabon Schweet, you are so twisted that your princely mask has begun to tear at the seams, and the more you try to hide it, the more it shines through. Oh no, you will be just fine. That broken heart was the best thing that ever happened to you..."

* * *

Fiona tugged at the hem of her midnight blue dress. _Oh glob, why did CB have to put me in something so frilly and big? I thought we were just having supper, not going to the opera. _

CB had taken her share of liberties with her hair and makeup as well. Her hair now hung in a loose bun pulled up with several diamond-studded combs.

"CB please, I don't think I need to look so gaudy for a simple supper!" She had pleaded with her overenthusiastic stylist as she shoved more combs and pins in her hair, and then doused her with another can of hairspray.

"Oh shush it. I never get to have any fun anymore, I specialize in women's clothing, and since Master Schweet's mother has not been home in months..." She mumbled through a mouthful of pins.

"Shouldn't you be with her then?"

CB shrugged. "She can pay someone else to travel with her, but my job is to be her at home stylist."

Fiona attempted to nod, but CB smacked her playfully. "Don't move your head! I am almost done, and if you mess this up, I will beat you with this box of combs."

"Sorry." She blushed, and turned her attention back to her reflection. Her light makeup had been transformed into heavy evening makeup of blues and golds.

"Hey CB?"

CB glanced up, and met Fiona's gaze in the mirror. "Yes?"

"What are Bernabon's parents like?"

CB stopped her harassment of Fiona's scalp with the box of combs, and stared off thoughtfully for a moment before resuming her work with renewed vigor.

"Mr and Mrs Schweet are... They are... powerful."

"What do you mean?"

"You've no doubt heard the gossip about Bernabon and Bonnebell while attending VA? Well, let's just say that what they did to Bonebell was tame compared to what they could have done."

"What do you mean CB?"

CB sighed as she shoved another comb into her hair. Fiona winced. "I mean that they are some of the most powerful blue bloods in the world. They are not only one of the most wealthy families in the world, but they also have breeding, which is a very rare combination these days. I think that is why Pep is so rude to you to be honest, he doesn't want you to get too close to Bernabon and ruin the bloodline..." She looked up apologetically in the mirror at Fiona.

Fiona couldn't help but admit that such a thought hurt her heart. "So I am not worthy of Bernabon?"

"Well, you might be to Bernabon, but his parents and the rest of their society might have something else to say about the pairing, and the gossip... Oh the gossip. I wouldn't wish that gossip on my worst enemy..." CB shuttered.

They were quiet for the remainder of the time CB took to put on the finishing touches as she had done earlier that day. I just have to get through this dinner, then I can feign illness, and get to bed... I don't think Bernabon will push me...

* * *

By the time Fiona entered the large dining room the windows were shaking due to the severity of the wind. A warm fire crackled in the hearth filling the more private dining room with warm light and heat. Bernabon was waiting for her. He pulled her chair out for her, and then walked over to one of the servants standing at attention by the entrance, and whispered something in his ear. The servant nodded respectively and proceeded to pick up all of Bernabon's dining implements on the very opposite end of the table, and place them next to Fiona.

The servant pulled out his chair for him as he sat down. "Sorry about that... It was probably Pep's indiscreet way of making us sit as far away from each other while still being in the same room." He chuckled lightly. "I knew he wouldn't give up that easily..."

"What do you mean?"

He glanced at her, unaware that he had spoken this thoughts aloud. "Oh pay me no heed, I am still a little loopy from my fever..." He smiled weakly at her.

She decided not to pursue her questioning any further. She didn't want to embarrass him. CB had told her what Pep thought about her. She had decided not to care about the social restraints everyone except the both of them followed. I am not going to let these people get to me. _If Cake could do it, I can too... _

About halfway through the meal, two servants entered from a side entrance, and pulled the curtains shut in an attempt to block out some of the howling wind. Fiona nodded to them as they exited, while Bernabon continued to chat, ignoring their presence completely. _He must be used to it since he has grown up with it... _

She couldn't be completely sure, but one of them looked awfully familiar to her. His cocky swagger even when intimidating the other servant's precise movements, the jet black hair slicked back, the pale skin.

_Marshall...?_

She shook her head. _No, that's impossible. I am just seeing things..._

During dessert the storm grew three times stronger. The wind now throwing itself violently against the windows, like a drunkard beating his way into a closed bar. Insistent and sloppy. Halfway through, the lights went out.

Fiona gasped in alarm. The room was pitch black, for the wind had blown the fire out simultaneously. She felt a hands caressing her hand and her cheek. Bernabon's hot, sweet breath on her neck. "Come with me." He teased her. Her heart began to beat faster as he took her hand in his and escorted her to the door leading out into the frighteningly deceiving hallways. They had narrowly escaped the quick re-eneterance of the two servants from earlier, both carrying freshly lit candles in their white gloved hands, they were obviously searching for the two missing teenagers.

One continued his futile search in the nooks and crannies of the room, calling out their names as if they were frightened, lost children, and he the doubting mother hen. The other, the one with the slicked back hair turned out into the hallway to see them vanish down the hallway, Fiona's long dress making scratchy swooshing noises as she ran hand-in-hand with Bernabon. The servant ran his long fingers through his hair and smirked.

"I will have to give Bubba more credit. He really does move fast when he wants something... But he really must know that I am just getting warmed up... And this time, I am willing to play dirty."

The servant shrugged and spun around to head back into the room where his companion was still calling for his master and his guest. The companion looked up from under the table where he had been searching to find him standing behind him.

"Oh Mr. Lee, it is truly terrible! I cannot find Master Schweet or his young guest anywhere! Where could they have gone to?" The young servant looked up at him, his eyes rimmed with tears, no doubt fearing Pep's wrath for loosing Master Schweet and the girl he seemed to despise so much.

'Mr. Lee' patted the young man -no, really boy, for he was younger than him- on the back. "Don't worry Jeeves, we will find them. I mean, what possible trouble could two unsupervised teenagers get into in a house filled with empty bedrooms late at night, in the dark?"

The boy sunk to the floor and began to weep. "**I-I-I-DON'T GET PAID ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH THIS!"** He wailed.

"Is that so?" Pep voice asked quietly. Marshall turned around and his blood ran cold. Pep was standing luminously behind them. His smile cold and cruel. "Find them."

* * *

Bernabon led her through the winding hallways. Wheezing and clutching his heart as they ran.

"Bernabon, should we slow down? You look pale..."

He wheezed out a laugh as they ran. "Now you are the one being a little odd. How are you able to gaze upon my lovely complexion in this darkness?"

She said nothing. He laughed sweetly at her. "You really are too cute."

She blushed. Now thankful for the darkness that cloaked both of them.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see! But for the remaining time, try to keep your voice down, I don't want to be caught so early in out adventure!"

"Adventure...?"

_Man, maybe this boy isn't an exact replica of Gumball. I mean Gumball would never go "out on an adventure" with me, yet alone be the one to plan sed adventure. Unless he was the one sending us out on one of his errands..._

They reached the end of the long hallway and slipped through a partially cracked door.

* * *

A match was struck, and the lamps slowly sputtered around the study room. He shook the match and pulled open one of the curtains that had been drawn closed in the storm.

"The windows have been outfitted with hurricane resistant glass..." He said a little boastfully.

"And why ever would you do that?" She raised an eyebrow at him from her spot on a clawed couch, covered in the same green as the curtains.

"Call it a man's intuition..." He smiled as he stood silhouetted by the flashes of lightening dancing in the sky he was gazing at.

"It almost seems like you... planned this or something..." She whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, it was nothing..."

He turned from the world ripping around outside and focused his suddenly very frightening gaze on her. His eyes were not the sweet Bernabon Schweet, Class President, this gaze was menacing and mesmerizing.

"Nothing that you say is 'nothing' Fiona. I know this as a fact."

"And how do you know that? You barely know me..." She could feel his gaze burn into her.

He walked over to her, so he was standing before her, and knelt down so his eyes were staring into hers, searching. "Must I repeat myself? Don't you remember what I told you when we were sitting together in the cafe?"

She turned away from him, not wanting to remember what he had said.

"Fiona... Please look at me." His hand caressing her cheek, he forced he head to turn back towards him. She closed her eyes in defiance. He sighed in frustration.

"Bernabon... I can't get involved with someone right now. I need to get back home..." She glanced warily at him. His face was expressionless and cold. I wonder if this is the face he uses when he is with his parents...

"I told you to call me Bubba when we are alone."

"I would rather call you Bernabon." She smiled shyly at him. His grip tightened slightly around her cheek.

"No, please call me Bubba. I want you to." He pleaded.

She could see the cogs whirring around in his mind as he searched her face for an explanation. He gasped, withdrew his hand, and drew back over to the window, turning his back to her. "Have you learned about my history with Bonnebell and the Lee clan?"

She nodded, unable to speak. How could he decipher that from my reaction...?

"As I thought. I was wondering why you were so cold and formal all of a sudden..."

"Berna..."

"Please don't!" He screeched pleadingly, covering his ears with the palms of his hands as his knees gave out, and he fell to the ground.

She ran over to him. He was clutching his heart again, in the same way he had been in the cafe. "Bernabon? Bernabon? Berna... Bubba? Bubba?" She shook him. He was shaking. Suddenly he looked up at her, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry." He sniffled. "This is extremely undignified of me." He wiped fresh tears from his face. Her heart felt like it was going to crack in two.

"I hoped that when I met you..." He trailed off, winced and clutched at his heart.

"You hoped that things would change when you met me?" She ventured.

He nodded weakly and smiled at her. The icy rain continued to slash against the windows. Bernabon shivered.

"Come on, let's take you back to Pep. I think he should know if you are not feeling well." She left him and walked over to the doors, but they were locked up tightly. She pulled with all her might, but they stood strong and defiant.

"Do you happen to have a key?" She smiled worriedly.

He reached down into his shirt and searched for his key. "Shit..."

"What is it?"

"It must have fallen off when we were running." His eyes darted around the room. "We are locked inside."

"Don't worry, I can beat on the door, and some one has to come... right?"

* * *

She fell exasperatedly to the floor. "Do all of your servants have cotton in their ears? I mean... Sheesh, I have been calling out for at least twenty minutes..."

Bernabon produced a golden pocket watch from his breast pocket and flicked it open. "Twenty-two minutes to be exact." He winked.

She groaned and rolled over. "So what do we do?"

He glanced at her and smirked. "Did you ever think about trying that door over there?" He raised a shaky finger to another set of doors she hadn't noticed.

"You couldn't have pointed that out before you let me bang on the doors for twenty-two minutes?" She glared playfully at him.

He shot her a pair of big puppy dog eyes "You seemed very intent on trying to get out that way, and every time I tried to say something, you said that you were fine and I quote 'I got this Bubba!'. So I decided to wait until you tired yourself out like you just did, and then I would have an easier time reaching you." He carefully stood up, and glided over to the door, pulled on the handles, and forced them open.

She blushed a deep scarlet and followed him through the door.

They were once again in his ballroom study. She ran over and tried the other set of doors, but they were locked as well.

"Come on, I know another way..." He grabber her hand and walked briskly over to the corner of the room, where the wall of windows met an adjoining wall. He pressed his hands against the wall which hesitated, and then groaned open, a secret entrance had revealed itself. He winked and pulled her inside. The secret entrance revealed a long, dark tunnel.

"They were the original servant's hallways, but then we updated the house. None of the current servants outside of Pep know about them. I have explored a few of them, but never this one, but maybe it leads to a way out..."

* * *

She held his hand tightly as he instinctively took the lead, feeling his way down the hallway. She didn't like not being in charge, but something about Bernabon leading seemed so out of character that she couldn't complain.

They were in complete darkness, but she could feel their feet clatter against dusty cobble stone, and hear the constant 'drip' 'drip' 'drip' of water leaking from some unseen crack above their heads. He halted his determined stride in mid step. Causing her to bump into his back.

"I feel something!" His clammy hand squeezing tightly around hers in excitement.

He really is not feeling well, but he is trying to do the best he can...

* * *

"This is the best I can do. It seems like the heating has stopped working. It really is an awful time to have a power outage, I mean it is wet and cold, but not cold enough to stay inside and sip cocoa." She whipped her hands against her dress as the fire in the large brick fireplace roared to life. Wrapping her back in threads of comforting heat. She glanced down at her dress which was tattered and torn from her twenty-two minute assault on the door, followed by her wanderings through the grimy hidden passageways of Schweet Manor.

_CB can scold me later... _

Bernabon moaned, clutched at his heart and shivered. "Cold. It is so cold."

She rushed worriedly over to the bed he had collapsed on upon entering the room, and discovering there was no way out.

"Please Bernabon... I mean Bubba. Just lay back in bed. I am trying to heat the room a little with the fire, but it isn't going to do any good if you don't stay under the covers."

"It's so cold though Fiona." He whined.

"Come sit up for a moment." She ordered briskly as she helped him sit up. His clothing drenched in sweat. "We are going to need to get that shirt and jacket off you."

He nodded lazily and began to pull off his jacket, and unbutton his shirt. She quickly spun around and blushed.

He chuckled. "What's the matter? Is the brave and daring Fiona afraid to see her tutor without his shirt on?"

She stole a quick glance at him. He was leaning back comfortably on the fluffy pillows and smiling kindly at her. "No, it's not that!" She snapped. "It's just that you are my tutor, and I don't want to get any weird ideas in my head about what you look like without your clothes on."

The room was quiet. The fire crackled and snapped, casting oddly distorted shadows on the back wall. He finally broke the silence.

"Is that all you think of me as? A tutor?" He could not mask the hurt in his voice.

She turned to face him once again. "Bernabon... You don't want to get involved with me... I... I am complicated."

"And I am not?" He gestured towards his heart. "This is not complicated?" He gestured to the room.

"Well..."

"'Well...' What?" He urged her, becoming more upset and angry.

"Bernabon, you were finally beginning to heal from your heart break, and then I show up, and... Well no wonder Pep hates me." Her voice soaked in emotion. "Please don't fall for me Bernabon. I can't be responsible for killing you."

"Fiona..."

"No, please don't..." He ignored her pleas and hobbled over to her and swept her up into his arms.

"Fiona." He breathed into her ear, pulling her tighter against him. She began to sob.

"Fiona, I don't care about your past. I will never expect you to tell me, but I also want you to know..." He tilted her chin up to look at her face. Tears still streaming down her cheeks. "I can't stand the thought of not being with you. From the moment I saw you, I was in love with you. I can't explain it exactly, but I can't get you out of my head. I want to be by your side all the time."

He took her face in his hands, their faces so close. "Please don't cry." He swept his tongue up both her cheeks, licking away her tears. She didn't stop him. His words, his touch, too comforting.

He pressed his forehead to hers. He mouthed her name. "Fiona... I love you. I love you so much I can hardly stand it." He pressed his lips gently to hers. Soft and soothing like warm milk. She welcomed his kiss. Surprised by her willingness, he deepened it. His hands slid down her neck, and his fingers danced playfully around her collar bone, and twirled lazy spirals with the fallen strands of her long hair. She jumped a little because his touch tickled. She wrapped her arms around her neck, no longer bashful of his naked torso. She felt him shiver. She pulled away and gazed into his eyes.

He pouted a little at the sudden removal of her lips from his. "Hey, I was really enjoying that..."

She pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him momentarily, "Bernabon... I want us to both take some time to examine what you have just said to me. I want you to see if you still feel this way in the morning, maybe this is just your chill talking."

"But I know it's not the..." He moved his lips closer to hers, but she stopped him. "I said I wanted **US** to take some time, that means me too. I need to think about you, but also about me, and my future."

He pouted and nodded. "Now go get into bed, you are still freezing!" She ordered pointing one finger towards the bed.

"As my lady wishes..." He kissed her hand and glided over to the bed.

She slapped at her cheeks, trying to make the blush ease from her cheeks. "No, keep it. I like it." He teased as he lifted the covers and slid inside.

She stuck her tongue out at him, all of the formality of their relationship had disappeared that evening. _But would it stay that way...? _

"One question: Where are you going to sleep?" He glanced at her playfully.

"On the floor I guess, or maybe I will sleep in this chair." She walked towards the cream-colored chair that sat next to the fireplace.

"I forbid it Ms. Keadersen!" He ordered jokingly. "If you sleep on the floor, then so will I." He threatened.

"Then where do you suggest I sleep?"

He wiggled his eyebrows at her, and pulled the covers on the opposite side of the king sized bed back. "Oh you have got to be kidding me." She gasped.

"Well then I guess I will have to sleep on the floor with you..."

"Oh no you don't. I can't let you sleep on the floor."

"And I cannot let my lady guest sleep on the floor. You must treat yourself like the lady you are!"

_No one has ever called me a lady before..._

She glanced warily from the chair to the bed. "I promised I won't do anything to you. Cross my broken heart" He made slashing motions over his heart in the shape of an "x".

She walked slowly over to him and slid rigidly into bed.

"You can't seriously expect me to sleep next to that filthy dress." He looked her ragged dress up and down.

"The dress is not going." She screeched, throwing a pillow in his face.

"Well some of it has to..." He replied, reaching over and ripping the skirt off just above her knees, and throwing the dirty fabric to the floor. "Much better." He sighed and settled back into bed.

"Well at least one of us will be able to sleep well tonight." She grumbled.

He began to shiver uncontrollably like he had when they were in the study room. An idea struck her. "Bernabon..."

"Bubba!" He corrected.

"Fine, Bubba, don't get the wrong idea, but I have an idea that might help you get rid of that chill." She said, cuddling up to his back, filling his icy body with her heat.

He sighed happily. "Oh, much better. I might have to keep you around for your medicinal properties alone." He teased.

"Just be quiet and go to sleep." She mumbled, burying her burning scarlet face into the safety of the pillows.

* * *

In the middle of the night, she felt a strong pair of arms lift her from her resting place next to Bernabon, and carry her down the dark hallway.

It must be Marshall Lee the Vampire King. I must have fallen asleep at his house while watching one of his movies, and he is flying me back to the treehouse. This has all just been a bad dream...

"Oh Marshall I had the most terrible dream..." She mumbled.

He looked down at her as he placed her on a pile of freshly made and folded sheets.

"Shhh..." He whispered, caressing her face. "You can tell me all about it in the morning."

"M'kay. You should come over for some of Cake's Bacon Pancakes, I know you don't like non-red food, but I don't think even you will be immune to them."

"Are you asking me out on a date after I have just carried you from a bed in which you were laying next to a half-naked man? You sure have some cheek... But I will accept." He replied playfully, knowing that she would not remember their conversation in the morning.

"Good night Ms. Fiona." He called as he began to close the door. "One more thing..." She began to stir. "I want you to tell Bubba there that I called you first, and if he ever tries to do anything that audacious again, I will personally see to it that he wakes up in a strange foreign town with no teeth." He paused. "I love you that much."

He closed the door and walked briskly down the hall to make his report.


	11. Lukewarm Feelings and Blackmail

***QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE***

**HI EVERYONE, I HAVE RECEIVED QUITE A FEW MESSAGES ABOUT WHICH PAIRING THIS STORY WILL END WITH, I WOULD LIKE TO INFORM YOU THAT I WOULD LOVE YOUR INPUT. THAT SAID, I HAVE POSTED TWO POLLS WHICH I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO ANSWER ONCE YOU HAVE READ THIS CHAPTER. **

**THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND REVIEWS! YOU GUYS KEEP ME MOTIVATED TO KEEP WRITING! **

**THANK YOU FOR READING! ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"So where did you run off to yesterday?" Finn looked intently up at her from his plate full of scrambled eggs and bacon pancakes.

"Hmmm?" She replied absentmindedly.

"What happened to you? You were whisked away by some dark-looking stranger, and miss your detention-which I narrowly managed to get you out of- and then you show up at my doorstep in some ripped party dress, looking like a drunken prom queen, and ask me if you can make me breakfast. Not that I mind or anything..." He added hastily, glancing up bashfully at her from her perch in elevated kitchen.

She had resumed her dreamy gaze out the window onto the foggy city line, not seeming to hear his words.

"I just wished you had at least sent me a text or gave me a call telling me you were okay."

That made her snap from her daydream, and glance down at the bunny phone that sat guiltily next to her hand on the marble countertop. She pressed the home button, which lit up, and revealed **12 Missed Calls from Finn, and 3 texts asking "****_Are U ok?_****". **

"I know I should have called you, but things sort of got out of hand last night, and I didn't have great reception in the storm." She lied. She hoped it was convincing. It must have been because Finn nodded seeming to accept her lousy excuse and return to his breakfast.

"I just don't want anything bad to happen to you Fi." He whispered as he stuck his fork into another mound of scrambled eggs, and shoved it into his mouth.

She stopped stirring the now burning eggs in the skillet on the gas grill, and peered thoughtfully at Finn, who embarrassed about the nature of his confession, avoided her gaze.

"Finn..." She set the spatula down, turned off the heat to the skillet, whipped her hands in her apron, and gracefully descended the three steps that led into the dining room, and kneeled down before him, staring at him, seemingly almost into him, and grasping at his retreating feelings that he kept hidden under tight lock and key.

"Finn." She repeated. Placing her hand on his cheek, making him shutter. His reply sent her spiraling back into the memories of the night before. Bernabon. Laying in bed with Bernabon. Seeing his naked torso, the roaring wind outside. Then, she was awake, her head bumping along in an odd position, and the sensation of being buckled snuggly in, as she came to in the car, the driver silently dropped her off at the lobby entrance to her penthouse... She didn't know where to go, what to do. Cake was gone. She went to the only person who had provided her comfort in her absence. He looked at her with wide, unbelieving eyes.

"I'm sorry... What was I thinking..."

She began to pull her hand away from his cheek, not fully understanding why she had placed her hand so lovingly on his cheek in the first place. She was so mixed up inside. Her mind swirling with thoughts of getting home, had now made room for the new people in her life and the tangled lives they led in the budding metropolis full of wealth and unimaginable power she now found herself in. This was not home, she didn't want it to be her home, but she was beginning to take root, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Nothing in her power but watch the life she had once had slowly fade from view and be replaced with vibrant and complex relationships with people who were willing to care for her, to lover her.

_I never asked for any of this... _

Her shoulders shook uncontrollably, and her knees began to buckle beneath her. Finn, still sitting in the chair, grabbed her by the waist and kept her slightly raised from the ground as he took her hand in his once again and pressed it back to his cheek. He turned his nose to the palm of her hand and inhaled deeply then rubbed her hand against his rough, unshaven cheek.

Her blush deepened.

He continued to nuzzle her hand. She couldn't look directly at him, but she also didn't look away. So she settled on concentrating on only parts of him, first it was his smooth eyebrows and forehead, then it was his strong, gently sloping nose that ended in a soft point. His hair pulled back in a tiny pony, keeping it out of his face. Then his soft lips and perfectly formed cupid's bow that hinted at a smirk in the corners as he rubbed his cheek against her hand. Then, finally, she met his eyes, which lazily peered up at her, sending another chill down her spine.

They seemed so different now. She had always known they were blue, but she had never taken the time before to peer more deeply into them as she did in that moment. His eyes looked so lonely. They reminded her of a forgotten stream near her treehouse back in Aaaa, one that rolled carelessly along. Seeming to care for nothing. It was not so much that the stream was not willing to house guests, but that no one was interested in being a guest within. No frogs swam through, or fish glided by, and soon the stream was forgotten by the world. So the stream moved on, it forgot what it was like to be lonely, to be sad. The stream simply carried on, bubbling and croaking until one day she dipped her toes into it as a child, and giggled as the stream seemed to grow alive again and welcome its visitor, lap at her feet. Finn's eyes, the same color as the stream, the same deep, clear gray-blue. Lit up and came alive like the stream had at her touch, and now she couldn't pull away as easily as she had when she was a child.

"Fiona..." He dropped her hand, and cupped her cheek in his hand. It was even softer than he imagined. Once again, her mind flashed back to the night before, and now she pulled away. But Finn did not pursue her cheek as Bernabon had done. No, Finn was still unsure of his feelings, or maybe he was just more sure of hers. He seemed to understand her like no one else had since she had arrived, not even Cake could read her so openly. He always seemed to know, and that is why she couldn't hurt him. No, she wouldn't lead him on with soft caresses and affectionate whispers like she had unwittingly done with the others. It wasn't fair. He deserved so much better than her.

Then there was a knock at her door.

* * *

She glanced quickly down at him as she stood back up, but he was still staring at her. Not with anger or remorse, but with the same longing hum she had felt when she stood by the stream back in Aaaa. The promise to be a companion, if only given the chance to prove itself. It sent another icy shiver up her spine.

She walked over to the main hallway and clicked on the live video surveillance footage that served as an overcomplicated peep hole. The feed revealed a tall, messy-haired figure leaning against the wall parallel to the entrance. The figure wore an oversized black leather jacket and long red scarf.

"Marshall...?" She hissed.

The figure looked up at the surveillance camera, as if hearing her whisper, and winked at the screen.

"Oh. My. Glob. How did he find me?" She whispered mortified.

"Who's that?" Finn peered over her shoulder, standing a little too close to her. She could smell the remnants of the fragrant cologne from earlier on his skin.

"Oh it's..."

"Wait, I know who that is! That's Marshall Lee, isn't it?" He shot an accusative look down at her.

She shrugged innocently.

"Oh Ms. Fion-n-n-aaaaa" A voice sang off key from the audio control of the security panel. "I know you're there. Don't worry, I won't bite... That much!" Marshall chuckled to himself.

"Don't you dare let him in." Finn raised an eyebrow.

"I have to. He won't leave until I let him in." She hissed. Stealing a quick glance back down at the monitor before meeting Finn's threatening gaze with her own.

"No you don't..." Finn began as she turned away from him and reached for the doorknob.

His hand closed around hers as she gripped it. "Please Fiona, be reasonable. Who knows what he will do."

She took a deep breath and flipped her bangs back from her eyes. "I have to."

"Then you should..." He began.

"And that is why I am letting him inside." She cut him off. "Because if I don't do it now, then he will get more obnoxious and use every tool at his disposal to get inside this penthouse, let it be legal or otherwise."

Finn searched her eyes for a moment, searching for her real reason, before releasing his grip and letting her turn the knob.

* * *

"I really like what you have done with the place." Marshall grinned as he sunk down into the chair opposite Finn at the dining table.

Finn shot her another accusatory glance as she retreated into the kitchen to 'clean' leaving Marshall with Finn.

"He's joking Finn!" She called exasperatedly. No doubt rolling her eyes at his comment.

"No I'm not." Marshall replied in a husky whisper. Staring at Finn and licking his lips hungrily.

Finn went a little pale. Thinking about what Marshall had just implied. _It was one thing to think about 'Tier 15' when thinking of Jake and Rain... But Fiona?_ It made him blush.

"I have pictures..." He continued pulling out his cell phone from the inside pocket of his jacket and beginning to unlock it.

"NO HE DOESN'T FINN! DON'T LISTEN TO ANYTHING DRACULA SAYS!" Fiona raged.

"Yeah, she's right. I don't." Marshall confessed with a moan and shook his head. Then he leaned over the table, so he was only a few inches away from Finn and whispered to him so Fiona couldn't hear him. "Well, at least I don't have them yet, but I will." He winked at Finn, who became a deep scarlet and mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath. Marshall settled back in his chair and smirked. Amused with Finn's reaction.

"Please remind me again why you are here?" Fiona appeared from the shelter of the kitchen, drying a plate, trying hard to appear completely uninterested with his answer.

"Oh Fi, please don't tease me and pretend that you don't remember when you invited me over last night." Marshall replied mellow dramatically, throwing a hand over his brow and slumping back in the chair.

"What are you talking about? I don't remember any such..." She was gripping tightly onto the dish in her hands. She didn't care if she broke it.

"Oh you really must lay off the sauce Fi, don't you remember how I escorted you from..." He began.

Suddenly a foggy memory of being carried from her place beside Bernabon by a tall, shadowy figure flowed back to her.

"But I thought you were... I mean... you were just so similar to..." She choked, now understanding that the man in her dreams was indeed a 'Marshall', but not her Marshall.

Marshall raised an eyebrow. Seeing that the cogs were beginning to turn in her head. How cute...

"What is it Fi? Bat got your tongue?" He smirked as he leaned back in the chair and rested one arm on the head, and propped the other on the table, using his fist to support his cheek. He was watching her with such delight, as if she were the character in a saturday morning cartoon.

Finn, completely lost. Glanced anxiously between both of them.

"I mean you probably don't remember that you invited me... You were pretty sleepy when I picked you up from Ber..."

Finn's ears pricked up.

She dashed for Marshall and cupped her hand over his mouth. He didn't fight her, but glanced slyly up at her. She could feel the smirk pressed against her hand grow into a wide, toothy grin.

"Bedroom. Now." She hissed at him, then looked worriedly up at Finn, who continued to look bewildered.

_Well at least he isn't catching on... _

She grabbed Marshall briskly by his red scarf and drug him in the direction of the bedroom.

"Well maybe you will get to see those pictures after all." Marshall winked to Finn as he was tugged forcefully down the hallway.

Finn blushed again, and looked away from the two and focused his attention out the windows. Pretending he didn't see them. Or had heard Marshall's teasing

* * *

She slammed the door shut behind them and pushed Marshall up against the wall, as far away from her as she could while still being in the same room.

"What is your problem?" She hissed.

Marshall shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Last time I checked, Good Little Girl, I wasn't the one toying with boy's emotions." He took a step away from the wall, and she took another step back.

"What are you even talking about?" She glared.

Marshall was quiet for a moment, as if her words hurt him. Then, he finally spoke. "At least you don't have to find the person you are in love with in bed with another man." He was looking down at the floor, his dark bangs covering his eyes.

"You know I could tell Bernabon you are..." She began intending to use his 'butler' status as ammo.

"But you won't." He interrupted, meeting her gaze.

"And why not?" She snarled and put her hands defiantly on her hips.

"Because of this." He said with more control than she had expected as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, unlocked it, and offered it to her.

She took several cautious steps towards him before snatching the glowing screen from his outstretched palm, and retreating back to the door. She glared at him once more before examining what the screen offered.

She gasped.

It was a picture of her sleeping next to Bernabon, cuddling up against his back. She swiped the screen, the next picture was Bernabon wrapping his arms around her waist as she slept, she didn't remember that part. The last picture was taken in a different bed, and Bernabon's slim, girlish frame had been replaced with Marshall's iconic smirk. Marshall had taken a picture of himself lying next to her. Her ripped ball gown pulled down a little more to reveal a sizable about of cleavage as she nuzzled next to him.

"And don't even think about trying to delete them..." He threatened.

"And why not?" She hissed.

"Because I have programmed a virus to run the moment one of those pictures are deleted from my phone. And this virus has been programmed to send ten thousand copies of each picture to every student and faculty member at VA via email." He smiled deviously at her.

Her eyes grew wide as her thumb hovered over the icon of a garbage can in the corner of the screen. "What do you want?" She asked with a shaky breath.

He walked towards her, but she was now too frightened to move or even look away. Panic filled her body, seemed to ease from her pores. She was frozen.

He stopped before her and bent towards her face, whispering "I want you Fiona."

Her blood ran cold. He continued. "I want you to be mine and mine alone. I want you to be by my side every moment of every day. I want your mind to be filled with thoughts of no one else but me, but I also know that none of this was possible... Without a little... personal intervention." He slipped the phone carefully from her hand, and waved it in front of her.

"Go ahead. Do it. See what I care?" She hissed.

He smiled and caressed her face. "And that is why I am so drawn to you, it is that spark that you have that makes my blood boil."

"No one will believe you."

"Yes, I guess you are right." He peered out the window, then continued. "So I guess that I will do is scare people into believing me. Believing that the pure transfer student is sleeping around campus so soon after arriving... Think of the gossip. The intrigue. The precious little life you know and love will cease to exist. Your aunt will lose her position on the board, and I doubt she will be hired by any decent company once word leaks that her family member is a tasteless class climber."

She slapped him. Hard.

He was quiet again for another moment and nursed his aching cheek, looking out the window.

"You think you can scare me into submission?"

"I am the future head of a major crime ring, might as well cut my teeth on this whole 'blackmail' thing now... I will be using it in the future after all. I want to get a head start now don't I?" His hand ran up her leg and he continued. "So my answer is yes. Yes I do. Do you know why? Because you are so busy thinking about what other people think about you. People like Finn and Bubba think about you, that people like you push people like me aside, say I am nothing..."

She shook her head. "Marshall. I have never cared about what anyone has thought about me. This is why I hate this world. You people are so wrapped up in your little squabbles that you think everyone is exactly like you, that everyone out there in the world is trying to hurt you..."

He blinked at her and rubbed his cheek with speechless admiration.

"Marshall Lee, I am not a possession to be had. I am not meant to be held in your hands, to be your plaything. You may do whatever you want to me, but I will suffer through it. Because I am a Warrior of Aaaa, an Adventuress."

He stared at her stupefied.

"Fiona... I..."

"I want you out of my house. How dare you try to threaten and blackmail me into being yours?"

She pushed him out of the way and walked towards the door. He tried to block her path, but she kneed him in the groin causing him to fall to the ground and curl up into a ball. She opened the door before glancing back at him. "I am going to be in the shower. I expect you gone by the time I get out. If you're not, I will have Finn personally escort you out."

He looked momentarily from his fetal position on the floor and smirked. "Am I at least invited into that shower?"

She stuck her tongue out at him, stepped out into the hallway, and slammed the door shut with all her power, making the hallways vibrate with the force.

"Well someone is testy..." Finn stated. Staring at her from the clearly visible living room, cross-legged, sipping a cup of what smelled to be camomile tea.

She rolled her eyes and stormed to the very opposite end of the hallway, where the bathroom was. She shot Finn a threatening gaze as she closed the door, but he hardly seemed disturbed by it, he could tell when she was serious or not, and right now she was angry, but not enough so to kick him out.

_I wonder what happened in there... _He thought to himself as he brought the cup up to his lips and slurped the warm, steamy liquid.

* * *

She turned the knobs of he faucet, letting steamy hot water burst from the tap, and quickly fill up the bathtub. She had planned on taking a shower, but her mind was so full of emotion she felt dizzy, and knew it was very unlikely she would be able to stand. With her last ounces of strength she lit some candles and dove into the deep bath, letting the water splash over the sides and run on to the floor.

_I will dry it up once I get out of the tub..._

Images of three very different faces filled her mind. Bernabon, the Broken Prince, Marshall, the Rocker with Blue Blood coursing through his veins, and Finn, the Silent Knight. All so different, but all seemed to express interest in one common subject thing: her.

She sunk deeper into the bubbly water, letting the overflow reach out and exterminate the flames from a few of the candles that surrounded the tub.

"What am I going to do?"

* * *

She emerged from the bath and wrapped her hair up with a towel. Still unable to decipher her emotions, but at least she was clean and in her own home again... Well, somewhat... She thought, opening the door, and letting the remaining steam escape from the damp room, along with her ghostly figure appearing in the doorway. She scurried over to her door, hearing the faint sound of murmurs echoing from down the hall, in her living room.

_I swear to glob, if Marshall is still there when I am done changing..._ She thought, already going back on her pervious threat of asking Finn to 'escort' him out by the time she got out of the bath. But she was still too shy to let them see her in only a robe, so she decided to change first, and then request Finn's services.

She changed into a dark pair of jeans and a loose sweat shirt, not even knowing what it said, before taking her hair out of the towel, and throwing on her bunny hat for good measure.

She opened the door and heard the echo of unfamiliar laugher.

"Oh Marshall Lee, you are going to get it." She hissed as her feet, now cushioned with fuzzy, striped socks, slapped angrily down the hallway towards the living room.

She was astounded to find that it wasn't the sound of Marshall, but Finn, who was laughing so hard he had doubled over from his perch on the couch, and was gasping for air. Marshall sat across from him on the opposite couch, resting his cheek against his knuckles, and smirking. The earlier atmosphere from earlier had completely disappeared, and was now replaced with something that could almost be called "friendly".

Oh she could have hit him, but the color in Finn's cheeks, the deep breaths he gulped down, beginning to realized they were no longer alone.

"Oh Fiona..." Finn chuckled as he wiped a tear from his eye.

She glared angrily at Marshall, who in turn shrugged at her and motioned with his eyes back towards Finn.

"What's so funny?' She inquired testily.

She hadn't meant to, but as she said this, the color and spark from Finn's eyes began to fade. It was the same glimmer that appeared when he was fencing with her, or when he was joking with Jake.

True happiness, that's what lit them up. But now she was responsible for stealing away one of those rare moments for him. She could have kicked herself for doing that to him.

Finn didn't seem to blame her. "Oh Fiona, Marshall Lee just told me the best joke. You have to hear it."

"Well then let's hear it." She hissed, turning her attention towards Marshall, who was still sitting in her penthouse, after she had asked him to leave.

_The audacity... But then again... He has been the only one to make Finn erupt into peels of laughter like that. So maybe he is not that... Oh SNAP OUT OF IT GIRL! He just tried to blackmail you into dating him, he must be evil. _

Marshall shook his head 'no'. "Maybe some other time..." He winked at her.

"Oh but Mr. Lee..." Finn whined.

"Oh please, just call me Marshall." He smiled at Finn, and for a second, it almost looked genuine, but Fiona didn't trust him.

Finn nodded. His eyes grew wide, he was obviously thrilled that someone so 'cool' as Marshall Lee would hang out with them, let alone tell him that he could call him by his first name.

She rolled her eyes again.

He stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets, and walked over to her. "What I really want to talk about is that awesome sweatshirt you are wearing."

She glanced down at it. _Shit..._

She hadn't the faintest idea to how or why it was in her room, but Finn's _Scream Kings_ shirt had somehow ended up in there, and she had unwittingly pulled it on, not even bothering to look in the mirror to primp herself before barreling out to kick Marshall out. She could have kicked herself for being so stupid. She hated how Marshall could get under her skin like he was doing this moment.

_I better just play it stupid... _

"What are you talking about?" She replied sweetly.

He looked at her a moment, cautious of her sudden shift in mood. "What I mean is I didn't know you liked the _Scream Kings_." He ventured.

"Well you know me, full of surprises!" She shrugged and took a step backwards, which he immediately followed by taking another step forward. Finn stared speechless at both of them. Unsure of what to do.

"I could get you tickets if you wanted, I do know someone in the band." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, knowing all too well what he meant.

"Well I would love to, but you see, I wouldn't want to go without Finn." She smiled. "He's the true fan."

Marshall shifted his gaze towards Finn for a moment, glaring at him with the look of a feral beast stocking its witless pray, before once again resuming his oily charm, and walking over to Finn, and standing behind him from where he sat on the couch, and grabbing Finn's shoulders.

"Oh Finny, if I had known you and Fi were such big fans, I would have hooked you guys up with tickets much sooner." He squeezed Finn's shoulders tightly, making him wince. All the while never breaking eye contact with Fiona.

Finn smiled, completely unaware of the dangerous aura emanating off of Marshall behind him. "Well I would call myself a bit of a fan..." He confessed.

"Perfect!" Marshall spun in a tight circle and clapped his hands. "Let me just make a few calls." He strutted over towards Fiona as he pulled his phone from his pocket, flashing her the 'last' picture- the one of them together- at her, which he had no doubt set as his home screen, as he passed by and walked towards the kitchen for a bit of privacy.

Her blood ran cold again for a moment before she sighed, and flopped down next to Finn on the couch. She rubbing at her temples.

"A 'bit of a fan'?" She hissed.

Finn shrugged innocently. "What were you doing in my sweatshirt in the first place?"

She slid lower into the couch. "I have no idea, I just grabbed the first thing in my room. I didn't even check to see what I had put on." She confessed. "I was preoccupied with the fact that Marshall was still in my house."

"He's really not all that bad, I mean..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "When people talk about him, they say how dangerous he is, and never to cross his path in the hallways... But I mean, here he is, giving us free tickets to one of the most popular bands in the area!"

_Oh believe me, nothing Marshall Lee does is 'for free'... _

She nodded, knowing she couldn't tell Finn... It was too embarrassing, also, if she told him about Marshall's connection, Marshall could be sure to make he life miserable for spilling his biggest secret... Well... One of them.

They heard the steps squeak as Marshall returned to them, slipping his phone back into his inside pocket. "Well it's all set kiddies! Front row tickets with backstage access for next friday!"

"Woah! Really? You mean the show at the Cube?" Finn inquired excitedly.

"The one and only!" Marshall nodded proudly.

"Oh man, I am going to have to tell Jake about this!" Finn stood up and hurried towards the door. "I left my phone back in the apartment. I will be back in a moment!" He called as he let the door close behind him.

She watched the door shut behind him, it seemed like eons passed before it finally clicked shut.

And for the second time that week, Fiona was left in a room with a dangerous Marshall Lee...

_ I really need to stop getting myself into these messes... _


	12. A Change of Heart & A Shopping Spree

**Chapter 12**

"Well, well, well..." He sneered, beginning to pace around the living room.

She sat in the chair farthest from his path. Keeping her eyes cast downwards towards the floor.

"I want you to leave now Marshall." She said sternly, finally peeking up at him.

He halted his pace and turned to her. He eyed her seriously. "And why ever would I do that?"

She met his gaze, becoming more brave with each moment she returned his piercing glare. "Because I will have Finn remove you from my presence if you do not..." She threatened, but her threat fell upon deaf ears as he was preoccupied with pulling his phone from his pocket and began punching at the screen.

"I do not think that will be a problem." He finally replied, slipping the phone back into his pocket.

"And why is that?" She stood, folded her arms over her chest, covering the logo, and glided over to him. _This time, she would control the situation, not the other way around. _

He seemed a little taken aback at her willingness to be near him, for he took a step back as she approached. _Good..._ She smiled._ Now I am on the offensive... _

"Well, because I have asked my men to take your little boy toy for a ride."

The color drained from her face, and her step faltered for a moment, making her take half a step backwards. "I swear to glob that if you harm a single hair on his head, Marshall Lee..." She hissed.

He smirked, knowing he was once again gaining the advantage. "Slow down Good Little Girl. My men may be ex-cons, but they are not animals. They are simply escorting your boy toy around the block a few times while we finish our little discussion."

She stepped towards him, making him retreat until he was backed up against the wall. "Well then you can tell your men to bring him back, because this discussion is over."

"Oh I really do like this fiery side you have been letting slip through today Fi, it really turns me on..." For the second time that day, her hand met his cheek.

She stomped towards the door and opened it wide. "I will ask you to leave now Marshall. Thank you." Her face was bright red, and she couldn't meet his gaze. He moved towards the door, as if he were actually going to do as she requested this time around, but halted before her at the door.

He raised an eyebrow. "You know..." He began thoughtfully. "Maybe I am going about this all wrong." He said, a playful tinge to his serious words.

"And how is that?" She replied, trying to usher him out the door and into the entry way, so that she would be able to close the door and finally be rid of him.

"Well, maybe I need to stop being so forward..." He began. She halted her systematic shoves in an attempt to get him out the door, and looked up at him in confusion.

He smiled down at her. It was not a smirk, but a genuine smile crossed his face. His mind no doubt spinning with some asinine idea

"Marshall..." She began, stepping forward cautiously to face him.

"Oh Fiona, I have been going about this all wrong." He grasped her hands in his and looked at her with excitement and understanding now plastered on his face.

"What do you..." She began.

"I can't believe the answer has been staring me in the face this entire time!" He bounced their intertwined hands up and down in time to every other syllable.

That's it. Marshall has officially gone off the deep end...

He exited through the door and turned to smile at her from the other side, his hands in his pockets, and a big goofy grin on his face, his left cheek still pink from where her hand had made contact with it earlier. He reached into his pocket and pulled the phone from it once more, offering it out to her in the palm of his hand. "Will you hold onto this for me? I don't think I will be needing it any longer."

She glared at him a moment, searching his face for some hint of a trick, but he just smiled back at her, and wiggled his hand, causing the phone to dance. She grabbed the phone from his grasp, and quickly stuck it into her back pocket, never once breaking her glare.

"I don't understand what you are doing, Marshall." She said quietly, trying to keep her voice from revealing the fear and confusion she felt towards this boy that stood before her.

"Oh please don't try to, it would ruin all the fun." He winked, mockingly saluted her, and turned on his heels to leave. "Don't worry, your boy toy will be back in a few minutes." He called, waving back at her as he walked down the hallway towards the elevator.

_As long as he is gone, and nothing happens to Finn..._

She closed the door, taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and wiggled her fingers, attempting to let all the pent up anger and distress flow from her body. Marshall was gone, and Finn would be safe. That's all she needed to know.

_Hey... wait a moment... _

All at once she threw open the door and caught Marshall's smiling face disappear behind the closing doors of the elevator. "And for your information, he is not my 'boy toy' you vampire wannabe!" She could hear muffled laughter as the elevator pinged, and began making its long decent to the first floor. She slammed the door shut, and began pacing around the living room, angry that she had let him intimidate her, try to blackmail her...

_Who the hell does he think he is...? _

Then her mind flashed back to when she had arrived in the city. The rowdy members of the gang who had called themselves '_Methuselah_'. They were stupid, but dangerous, and if Cake hadn't shown up that night to save her, who knows what might have happened.

_And this boy, this monster, was the future leader of this clan. I can't trust him. He is as bad as Bernabon __was__, trying to use money and power to control people... He's just a spoiled rich boy who doesn't know what it is like to live anywhere else than in his ivory tower. He doesn't even show up to class unless he is there to fulfill ulterior motives..._

Her train of thought was interrupted by a ghostly knock on the door. "I thought I told you to leave me alone, Marshall!" She bellowed, striding over to the door, and flinging it open with all of her force. She was surprised to find not Marshall with his iconic smirking face and hands shoved in his pockets, but a wheezing, pale Finn, bent over, and using the doorframe as support. His arms and legs shaking.

"Oh my glob Finn! Are you okay?" She grabbed him just as he was about to collapse right there, half-guided and half-dragged him into the living room, and flopped him onto the nearest couch. His chest continued to rise and fall quickly, trying to suck in as much air as this lungs could manage. He draped his long, left forearm over his eyes, and rested his head against one of the arms of the couch.

"Finn! Finn! Please tell me what happened!" She pleaded holding his free right hand in hers.

"They... They..." He gasped, still struggling to suck in more air.

"They what?" She urged him.

"Stairs." He murmured.

"Stairs?" She repeated, a million ways racing through her mind of how they had used stairs to hurt him.

"They pushed you..."

"No." He interrupted, the hint of an amused smile on his lips. "They made me run stairs."

She dropped his hand and stood up. "That's it?" She screeched. "Here I am, my mind racing with unspeakable horrors those goonies could have done to you, and all they made you do was run stairs?!"

He raised his left arm, peering bewilderedly at her. She tried to look sternly at him, but she couldn't be angry at him. It was her fault after all. He smiled at her. "I didn't know you wanted them to rough me up Fi, if that was the case, maybe you should do it yourself."

She blushed a little and sat down next to his sprawled figure on the couch. "You know that's not what I meant." She sighed.

"You can just make it up to me by agreeing to take me to _the Scream Kings_." He teased, sitting up and surveying the room, a little disappointed to find nothing had changed.

"Fine." She pouted, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes.

He looked down at her a moment, a little shocked at her forwardness, but to be honest she had fallen asleep on him not two nights before when he had tried to show her _Heat Signature_, what had he expected?

"But I get to chose where we eat beforehand." She added, nuzzling his shoulder, inhaling his scent.

"Deal." He replied, smiling and snaking an arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

* * *

Bernabon bolted up. "Fiona?" He whispered, feeling around in the mass of sheets.

"Your little friend has already been escorted home." Pep stated. His voice firm and his arms crossed, appearing from the shadows in the corner of the room.

Bernabon groaned and flopped back onto the bed. "You didn't have to make her go so soon." He whined. "She didn't have anyone to get back to."

"Oh but she does..." Pep replied, tossing a thick folder into Bernabon's lap. He sat back up and opened the folder peering at its contents. It was a mixture candid pictures of Fiona talking to some blond haired boy. Them eating together at school. Them walking together and disappearing into the same building. He sifted through the folder until he found a thick pad of paper covered with quickly jotted notes, _no doubt a PI's handiwork. Just like Pep to do something like this..._ He continued to shift through the folder until he came upon a VA record, the corner showed a taped photo of the boy in question.

"So his name is Finn..." He muttered.

"Yes, Master Schweet."

"Pep, why are you showing me this?"

"I just thought you needed to me made aware of her intimacies with other boys..." He replied matter-of-factly.

Bernabon slammed the folder closed and glared up at him. "Pep, I don't know what you think is going on between the two of us..." He began.

"Oh please Master Schweet, I am very aware of your feelings towards this... girl." His upper lip curled as if he had suddenly come upon an unpleasantly pungent odor.

"Then you have misinterpreted..." He replied, standing from the bed and searching for his shirt on the floor.

"Oh, but I don't think I have." Pep replied, handing Bernabon a fresh shirt that seemed to appear out of nowhere. He pulled out a small tape recorder out and began replaying part of his conversation to Fiona last night. He blushed, rehearing his more intimate words being repeated back to him.

"How did you manage..." He managed to sputter.

"You really do not give me enough credit Master Schweet, your parents have paid me quite nicely to keep you under tight supervision, and I am simply keeping your best interests at heart."

"You're crazy." Bernabon spat, snatching the offered shirt from Pep, and buttoning it.

"That well may be, but I have a job to do." He smiled sweetly at his Master. "Master Schweet, has it ever crossed your mind that you do not really know that much about this girl?"

"Well... urr..." Bernabon stuttered.

"As I thought." Pep said, throwing another, much lighter, file at his feet.

Bernabon bent down and picked it up, beginning to shift through its contents. It was a file on Fiona, the only things inside it were some more candid photos, and a copy of her VA transcript.

"No birth certificate, no social security number, no record of her ever having existed until a few weeks ago." Pep continued.

His stomach felt like it had been filled with rocks."How is this possible?"

Pep raised an eyebrow. "It isn't. This girl isn't who she says she is."

"Then who is she?"

"That is exactly what I am planning on figuring out." Pep walked towards the door, and paused as he grasped the handle. "Please do continue to see this girl if you wish it Master Schweet, I have no power to stop you from what you are doing, for you are doing nothing wrong, but I wanted you to know a little more about her." With that he left the room.

Bernabon fell back on to the bed. Who is Fiona Keadersen? Pep's plan had worked, he had planted a seed of doubt in the trusting mind of Bernabon Schweet.

* * *

"We have done as you requested Boss..." Hambo bowed to Marshall as he cooly exited the elevator.

"Excellent Hambo, I hope you didn't make him too uncomfortable..."

"Oh no Boss, we just made him participate in some... cardio."

"Cardio?" He raised an eyebrow at his right hand man. Hambo was only a few years older than Marshall, and they had been inseparable since Marshall was first taken into the Lee family. Hambo, also an orphan, had been raised by some of the older, confirmed bachelors of the gang who worked in the Lee Mansion as live-in bodyguards in a small house about a mile away from the estate. He had defended Marshall when he first arrived from the tyranny of the older boys, and Marshall had never forgotten his first friend's kindnesses. It was Hambo who had encouraged him to start _The Scream Kings_, against his Marshall's mother's threats of disownment. And when it came time for Marshall to take a more active roll in the running of the Methuselah clan, Hambo was his first choice as bodyguard, elevating his status to well beyond the title of a foundling raised by ailing, old clansmen.

"Yea, I made him do stairs..." He confessed a little embarrassedly.

Marshall threw his head back and laughed. "Hambo, I told you to keep him busy, not take him to the gym you dweeb."

"It was the only thing I could think of on such short notice." He confessed.

"So much for the bloodthirsty bodyguard I had always dreamed of..." He teased. "Now I have to make one more stop before we head home." He flashed Hambo a very uncustomary smile and made his way towards the car that was parked (illegally) in front of Fiona's building.

It was odd to see Marshall's smile these days he was always so withdrawn. Hambo had known him long enough to know that the stress of running the Clan one day was getting to him. This, coupled with the growing popularity of_ The Scream Kings_ had left little time for his friend to actually be a teenager. He had also been spending more time at his "part time job" at Bernabon's house that Marshall didn't know he knew anything about, but he knew better than to question his motives, as reckless as Marshall appeared on the outside, he was actually very cautious and thoughtful about everything the thought to be important: he never missed a band practice or a meeting with his mother. But things like school and girls had fallen to the side of his focus.

"Oh... Of course Boss... Where to?" He asked cautiously, wondering what had caused the sudden 180 in Marshall's mood from the brooding, showy young man he was growing used to.

"I am feeling a sudden need to go see my old cousin Marcy if you don't mind." He replied, ducking his head into the back seat of the car as Hambo opened it for him.

"Yes Boss."

* * *

"Who is it Marcy?" Bonnie looked up from the papers she was grading as Marceline stood as still as a statue at the door.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed. Her eyes growing wide and angry.

Marshall shrugged. "Do I need a reason to call on my wonderful cus' and her beautiful wifey?"

"Actually you do." She spat, crossing her arms and scowling at Marshall and his hulking bestie-made-personal-bodyguard.

"Well that's tough." He smirked, forcing his way inside the brownstone townhouse she and Bonnie had moved into two years ago. Hambo following after like a lost puppy. He wasn't intimidated by many people, but Marceline Lee had a nasty temper on her. It was hard to imagine that they weren't actually related, dark hair, pale skin, musically inclined, an uncanny ability to wiggle one's left ear on command, and a nasty temper to top it all off with.

"Who is it Marcy?" Bonnie continued to inquire as she stood up from the desk in her study and wandered out into the entry.

"Oh my goodness! If it isn't Marshall Lee?" She gasped excitedly, running over to him and enclosing him in a jittery hug. She took a step backward to look at him. "Oh my, you really are becoming quite the looker." She teased. Marcy rolled her eyes. "Well I must say if I wasn't ten years younger and actually interested in men..." She began.

"Alright! That's enough!" Marcy interjected, pushing her way in between the two of them.

"Oh yes Marcy, you are quite right, we can't have a proper conversation out here. I will go whip up some tea and see what else I have around here." Bonnie called, disappearing into the kitchen. "Do you remember where the formal sitting room is, Marshall?" She continued excitedly as a symphony of clanks and gurgles erupted from the kitchen. She was still getting used to the whole 'living on your own without servants', but she really was trying her best.

"Yes I do Bonnie!" He smiled and began to make his way towards it.

"Oh no you don't" Marcy said, grabbing him by his collar and tugging him backwards. Hambo began to step towards her, Marshall still gaging against the pull of the collar. "Oh cool it muscles." She ordered, holding a hand up to Hambo, before turning her attention back to Marshall.

She was still a bit taller than Marshall, especially wearing the cherry red heels she always insisted on wearing. She held him by the hem of his collar, pressed her free hand on her hip, and looked into his eyes. "So what is this all about?"

* * *

"A girl?" Bonnie announced excitedly, setting the tea set down on the table and sitting down next to Marcy.

Marshall sat to the opposite of them, his blush becoming more prominent with each passing moment. Hambo, standing behind him in the cramped room, which he had to hunch down in due to his sheer size, shared the same look of shock as Marcy had when he told her back in the hallway, now exchanging glances with the smirking Marceline.

"I just need some advice." He continued after Bonnie had settled from her fangirl-esque fit.

"Why not ask mommy dearest?" Marcy replied, focusing her gaze on a painting on the wall above his head.

Marshall shook his head. "Victoria Lee. Really? The woman so preoccupied with running her underground empire, she adopted a random orphan and declared him her sole heir?" He gestured to himself.

Everyone in the room winced at the grim reminder of Marshall's sole purpose. He didn't care. He was used to it.

"Alright kid, you got me there..." Marcy admitted, lacing her arm around Bonnie's shoulder.

"What's her name?" Bonnie interjected.

"I would rather not say..." He replied.

"Oh come on now! You wanted our help! Just tell us her damn name!" Marcy ordered.

"Fiona Keadersen..." He mumbled, looking down at the floor.

Bonnie began to bounce up and down excitedly once more. "Oh I know her! The transfer student right? Oh yes, I have her in my second period Chemistry class, quite the student I must admit. She hangs out with Finn and Jake mostly."

"Also with your ex-fiancee..." He added quietly.

Bonnie's face grew a little cold, no doubt remembering all the unresolved issues with that name.

"So you still haven't explained what this has to do with us?" Marcy continued, trying to change the subject.

With a deep sigh he continued. "Marcy, you are the only family I have that I can really trust..."

"You have Hambo." She interrupted, glancing up at the ominous figure above them.

"Are you kidding me? Hambo has less experience than an oyster."

"That's not true!" Hambo interjected defensively.

"Ham, your otome video games do not count as the real thing." Marshall replied, not even turning back to him to deliver the insult.

"Oh..." He replied, then became a silent statue once again.

"And the tricks the boys back home have taught me to use are useless..." He admitted.

"So the barbaric tendencies, blackmailing, and crude humor hasn't been getting you anywhere?" Marcy teased.

He rolled his eyes. "So. Will you?"

"Will we what?" Marcy teased.

"Will you... you know?" He hinted, becoming a little embarrassed and angry.

"I don't know what you are asking for Marshall Lee, I think you need to just come out and say it." She urged him.

He threw his hands up in the air in anguish. "Fine! You're really going to make me do this... Here? In front of everyone?"

Marcy nodded slowly.

With a deep sigh, he reluctantly continued. "Marcy and Bonnie, would you please help me."

"Of course we will!" Bonnie replied, jumping up from the couch and enclosing Marshall in yet another suffocating hug.

"See? Was that so hard?" Marcy continued, pretending to examine her nails.

"Lee's don't ask for help." He growled.

Marcy stood up, and slid one arm around the wiggling Bonnie, and the other around Marshall. "Well thank goodness that none of us are real Lee's or else we would be in deep trouble." She winked.

"I'm not a Lee either!" Bonnie interjected. "Because Marcy and I both gave up our names when we came out. So now we go by 'Bitton'."

"He knows that Bonnie." Marcy reminded her.

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

Marshall chuckled. The Bonnie Bitton at school was much different from Marceline's Bonnie.

"So where do we start?" He asked.

Marcy looked him up and down. "Probably wardrobe."

Marshall looked at her, horrified.

"Hey! You wanted my help, now let me help you!"

"Yeah...I guess."

"Then let me help you!" She smacked him playfully upside the head and picked up her car keys from the kitchen counter. "Bonnie, Hambo, we have some work cut out for us!" She mused.

"I can help with manners and etiquette!" Bonnie sang.

"Great Bon, why don't you get a head start with him while we are driving to the department store."

"Yippie!"

"Ham, you are going to be in charge of making sure he is well groomed... Hair, shaving, stuff like that..."

"Hey! Wait a minuet!" Marshall interjected. "I still have to look like myself for the concerts!" He reminded her in a hurried whisper, as if all the rest of them didn't know about his alter ego.

"Don't worry. You will still be able to play Dracula." She teased, opening the door and leading them out. "Just not when you are at school." She unlocked the car and let Hambo sit in the front with her, and Bonnie in the back, beginning her first lesson in courting.

_Someone shoot me... _

* * *

By the time Monday rolled around, Fiona had all but forgotten the events of the week before. Cake had returned from her business trip/ vacation visiting her boyfriend and had lots to tell Fiona about. Finn, meanwhile, kept her occupied with hours of sparing in his personal gym, and personal film festivals hosted on his couch. The only reminder of what had taken place the week before was the ripped midnight blue dress pressed into the bottom of her clothes hamper, and Marshall's cellphone, which she had buried in the very bottom of her sock drawer.

Only when she was walking to Remedial Algebra did she really give a solid moment to thinking of him.

She opened up the door, expecting it to be empty. She was surprised to see a new body sitting in the desk in the far corner of the room next to the window, his attention focused outside.

"Oh I am sorry, I must have the wrong classroom..." She mumbled, staring to close the door.

"And where do you think you are going Ms. Keadersen? Trying to skip again? I heard your little friend was able to weasel your way out of detention. But try to pull that with me? I think not." Coach Algebra barked. "Get to your seat."

"Yes sir..." She mumbled shyly, quickly making her way to her seat.

"Well hello there Fiona." A familiar voice chirped.

She turned to her left to see that the strange boy had moved into the seat next to her.

"Do I know..." She gasped. "Marshall?"

He winked at her. "Wadda ya think?"


	13. Until we meet again

His hair was shorter now, and gelled in a very fashionable way. His shirt and pants were actually pressed. His tie was straight, and wore the regulation navy blue cardigan that sported the VA crest. The most remarkable change was the addition of the glasses. Bonnie had insisted on them when they were shopping, saying that they put off an "intellectual flare". They were sleek black, and looked like they were made for him, they suited his face so well.

All she could do was gape at him. He chuckled. "I am guessing that I took you a for surprise..."

"Mr. Lee, is there something you would like to share?" Coach Algebra barked.

"Oh no Coachie, we are doing just fine, you get back to your important reading." He waved at him, treating him as if he was no more than a servant.

Coach Algebra glared at them once more before slinking back behind his latest issue of _Sports Illustrated_. He was wary of Marshall, but not enough to distract himself for more than a moment from his "reading", and he had simply given up on Fiona, labeling her as a lost cause. Nothing he seemed to do stuck with her beyond taking pages of notes, and working for hours on one assignment. _I really need Bernabon's tutoring now more than ever... _

Marshall turned his attention back to Fiona, resting his chin on his palm, and smirking at her. His eyes burning into her. She shifted uncomfortably in her desk. Not sure how to act under his unapologetic stare.

"So..." He continued.

"'So' what?" She mimicked him, pretending to find something interesting on the other side of the room.

He scooted his desk closer to her, placing his head down playfully on the desk and peering up at her. "What does the lovely Fiona think?"

That made her stare at him yet again. "Lovely?" She whispered.

"I can say it again if you want." He smiled up at her with big puppy dog eyes, eager for her approval.

"No, that is quite alright..." She replied hurriedly, obviously flustered, although she didn't know why, this was the same Marshall Lee that she had kicked out of her apartment not two days ago... But this transformation was unsettling. She decided to turn her attention back to the other side of the room.

He rolled onto his back, never breaking his puppy-like gaze. "Aren't you wondering why I did this?" He gestured to his appearance.

"I told you that it doesn't matter to me what people look like to me as long as they are good people..." She huffed, blowing her bangs from her vision.

"So you don't like it?" He frowned, sitting up, cross legged, on the front of the desk. His cardigan began to slip off is left shoulder, and glasses began to fall down the bridge of his nose, but he didn't push them back up, still being unused to his new accessory.

"I never said I didn't." She smiled a little.

"Mr. Lee, tables are for glasses, not asses. Now will you PLEASE sit in your seat and get to all that homework you have neglected to turn in since the beginning of the school year, thank you very much." Coach Algebra barked, sending a condensing glare in Fiona's direction as well before returning to his magazine.

"Yes Coachie!" He stood, saluting him, and turning to sit back down in the desk. Fiona couldn't help but giggle. Marshall grinned, pleased with Fiona's less ambiguous response.

* * *

The bell finally rang, and class was dismissed. She quickly gathered up her things and headed towards the door. Coach Algebra, of course, had done his usual three-minute-prior-to-the-bell retreat to the teacher's lounge. Leaving Fiona and Marshall alone yet again. She had been bracing herself for the eventual onslaught of pervy Marshall comments, or his wanting to be inappropriately close to her, but even after "coachie" left, he never so once as glanced up from his workbook in her direction. She stopped, with her hand grasping the handle.

"Marshall?"

He looked at her over his glasses. His face was serious, not even the hint of a smirk. "Yes, Mademoiselle?"

She blushed a little as she continued. "I just wanted to say..." She trailed off, her grasp tightening around the handle. "I just wanted to say that...uh... I still have your phone..." She mumbled quickly and turned the handle, knowing her escape was now guaranteed.

Now his face grew into a wide, devious grin. "Oh yes Fiona, I am well aware of its current whereabouts..." He mused.

Her blush deepened. _Why am I blushing over Marshall? The creepy pervert who tried to blackmail me into being his? I must be delusional... Too many hours sparring... Yes, that's it..._

Her hand inadvertently turned the nob and the door flew open into the bustling hallways. "Well then, I guess until we meet again..." She nodded a goodbye and ducked into the hallways.

Once she had disappeared from view, he set his pencil down and gracefully closed his workbook. He took off his glasses and nibbled on the left temple tip, his gaze falling upon the open door, watching clusters of underclassmen scurry about. _Yes Fiona, until we meet again..._

* * *

She buried her warm face in the familiar and comforting smell of her hat as she sat on one of the benches in the changing room. She let a deep sigh escape her lips.

Rain glanced inquisitively over at her for a moment before another deep sigh escaped from her muffled mouth. Rain's face growing into a knowing smile.

"Boy troubles?" She raised an eyebrow as she started changing into her PE uniform.

Fiona looked up. "What do you..."

"So it is!" Rain squealed, taking Fiona's response as an affirmative, as she ran over to Fiona and plopped herself down next to her on the bench, her many bracelets jingling as her palms made contact with the bench.

"I never said..." Fiona began.

"Oh shush!" Rain continued, waving a dismissive hand at Fiona, as Marshall had done earlier. _Do all spoiled rich kids do this? _"I can tell when a girl is having boy problems and you, missy, are having some very difficult ones from the sound of that sigh."

Fiona's face reddened, unaware that her sighs had been so loud.

"Oh I should have known! I mean Finn has been way more talkative and amicable lately... Why didn't I see it sooner!?" Rain nocked herself playfully on the forehead. "You guys would make such a cute couple!"

"Rain, I think you've got this all wrong..." Fiona tried to reason, but her pleas fell upon deaf ears as Rain began to go all starry-eyed and chatter about possible themes for couple's dates.

"And just wait until I tell Jake! I mean, this is what he wanted all along!" She winked and stood up, offering Fiona a hand.

"Rain, I don't know how to tell you this, but Finn and I are just...friends." Fiona mumbled, gazing at the ground as she took Rain's help to stand.

Rain raised a questioning eyebrow. "You mean there is someone else?"

"Yes... I mean no... I mean... Oh Rain, I don't know anymore." Fiona's voice wavered a little.

Rain rested her hands on her hips, obviously a little flustered by Fiona's confession. "Oh my... I never expected anyone else... I am sorry. I just assumed because you two have been so close recently..."

"Yes, we are becoming close, but I don't want to jeopardize my relationship with Finn on a whim. He really is becoming my best friend." She looked down at the concrete floor, still too embarrassed to look up at Rain and confront her reaction.

"Well I must admit I am a little disappointed for both of you. I mean, you both are so cute together, but I also understand that you want to keep your friendship with Finn. He really seems to treasure your friendship as well..." Rain replied thoughtfully.

"Rain, may I ask one more thing?"

"Shoot."

"Well..." She finally looked up at Rain, focusing her intense gaze into her eyes. "I would rather that this stayed between the two of us. I haven't really told Finn about my... personal problems, and I would hate for it to get back to him from outside sources."

Rain nodded solemnly. "Cross my heart Fi, I will not breathe a word of this to anyone."

"Thanks Rain, I knew I could count on you." She smiled.

Rain returned her smile. "Oh goodness, well, isn't that what friends are for?" She closed her locker and headed for the door. "And you better hurry up and get dressed or else you will have to face Muscle's wrath." And with that she left Fiona alone in the locker room, with even more questions now than before.

_Does Finn like me like that? Do I even think of Finn that way? Can I trust Rain to keep my secret? _

* * *

Finn and Jake stood shoulder to shoulder, both of their PE partners were absent for warmups, so Muscles had assigned them to each other. And as much as Finn didn't want to admit it, it felt weird being with Jake again, but he tried to keep things light and playful towards his former bestie.

"So where have you been for the last few days?" He asked nonchalantly as they took turns holding each other's feet while doing sit ups.

Jake was gazing off into the distance, no doubt looking for his girlfriend. "What was that, Finn?" He finally looked down at his sweaty friend beneath him.

"Could you-at least-try-to be-invested-in our-friendship." Finn huffed between sit ups. He was hurt. It seemed like his best friend had deserted him. At least he had Fiona, but right now he didn't even know where she was...

Jake couldn't help but wince at his friends cruel words. He had spent the last few days with Rain scouting out potential venues for the 'off the hook' party he had been planning, but he couldn't lie to Finn, because Finn could always tell when he was lying, but he also couldn't ruin the surprise! So he chose to stay silent, which Finn took as a 'no'.

"You used to be my best friend, Jake." He mumbled.

"There they are!" Jake interrupted, sitting up, causing Finn to fall backwards mid-sit up.

"Aghf!" Finn cried as his head hit the soft grass that made up the track field. He sat up, rubbing his head. He watched Jake toddle off to be with Rain, and his heart sank.

_Can I really be replaced that easily?_

* * *

"Thank goodness you are here!" Jake whispered hurriedly to Rain. "Where have you been? You know how I can't lie to Finn, and he started interrogating me about why we haven't been here for the past few days! I didn't know what to say!"

Rain kissed Jake on the cheek, making him halt his stream complaints. "I had some stuff to take care of. Sorry I put you into an uncomfortable position, but it couldn't be helped, this required my immediate attention." She glanced over to Fiona, who was standing over Finn and laughing. Jake followed her gaze, and his eyes grew wide with understanding.

"Oh you mean..." He began excitedly.

She cupped her hand over his mouth and hissed. "No Jake, it is not what you think. What we need to do now is respect their privacy." She gave him a warning look before removing her hand from his mouth.

"But that's no fun." Jake pouted, crossing his arms and stamping his foot like a small child.

"Don't you have a party to plan?" Rain teased.

He cautiously looked up at her, but all she did was smile. "Yeah, I guess you are right..." He sighed.

"Rain! Jake! It's bad enough that you two are partners. Now will you kindly stop visiting and pay attention!" Mrs. Muscles barked.

Rain giggled and took Jake by the hand, leading him back into the stretching formation so Mrs. Muscles couldn't yell at them anymore.

* * *

Finn could feel the warmth of the sunshine disappear from his face. He had given up on doing anymore stretches now that Jake was gone, and Mrs. Muscles hadn't caught him yet, so he just basked in the cool autumn air.

"Sleeping on the job?" A sweet voice teased.

He opened his eyes, which lazily focused onto the face peering down at him.

"Fiona!" He squeaked, quickly sitting up and dusting off his uniform, inadvertently smashing his head into hers as he did so. They both cried out.

"Who else?" She teased, rubbing her quickly-bruising forehead.

"Where have you been?" He whined, doing the same as he stood up.

She crossed her arms playfully. "Can't a girl be a little late now and then?"

"Not when she leaves her faithful PE partner partnerless." He replied sulkily.

She shrugged.

"Ms. Keadersen!" Mrs. Muscles bellowed. "I have already had to tell those two love birds over there to stop visiting, and my patience is beginning to ware thin, I suggest you get back to the warm up stretches before I make you run laps."

"Better do as she says." She teased, and with that they too fell back into formation. The stress from earlier melting away.

* * *

Fiona changed out of her PE uniform and strolled out into the hallway, chatting casually with Rain about a popular book series Rain had discovered, and was insistent on making Fiona read.

"Well you see, the protagonist is this female demon who has to..." She shriveled away from Fiona.

"What's the matter Ra..." She bumped into a solid form as she glanced backwards towards the petrified Rain, who simply pointed with a horrified expression to what ever was in front of her. She looked up. "Marshall?" She gasped.

He stood there, with his hands shoved in his pockets, looking very annoyed and out of place in the crowded hallways. He glanced down at Fiona, and then over at Rain, whose expression had changed from one of horror, to blatant wonder. _Did she not recognize him?_

"Oh hey Fi..." He replied nonchalantly.

"What are you doing here?"

He looked amused. "I didn't know it was a crime to inhabit the hallways."

"It is usual to see one Marshall Lee standing in them, yes." She replied tartly.

"Well then why don't we go somewhere a little more... private." He said the last word in a husky whisper and he took her hand in his.

She instinctively pulled away from him and slowly walked back towards Rain, who was now joined by Jake, roping a possessive arm around his lady's waist, and Finn, who seemed just was confused as Rain. He followed a few steps behind her, seeming to be both amused and curious by her petrified friends.

"Who is that?" Rain said in a hurried whisper to her right as Marshall joined their group. No doubt drawn in by the transformed Marshall...

She looked quizzically up at Marshall. _Did he really look that different? Or has anyone actually seen Marshall Lee up close? _

She sighed and looked around at her friends before continuing. "Everyone, I would like to introduce you to the famous Marshall Lee." She gestured towards Marshall, who made an elaborate bow in response to his introduction.

The three's eyes grew large with wonder, but Finn was the first to speak. "Is that really you Marshall?" He took a step nearer for a closer examination of the boy she had presented as the notorious crime boss's son and sole heir.

He, in reply, lowered his glasses and stared Finn straight in the eyes before giving him a quick wink. Finn took a step back, crossing his arms and nodding with confidence. "Yep, that's Marshall alright."

Rain and Jake looked at each other, before simultaneously nodding their heads, obviously taking Finn's word over hers. _Do they really need confirmation?_ She thought, slightly annoyed that they didn't trust her vision.

"How do ya do?" He winked at Rain, who looked like a deer in the headlights, she was so taken in by his good looks and aura that dripped with unused charm. Jake stared him down, none too happy that he had been able to make his girlfriend's legs turn to jello. "We are just fine."Jake replied cautiously, attempting to steer Rain out of Marshall's gaze. Marshall just smirked.

"So what are you doing here Marshall?" Finn asked politely, trying to turn the mood away from Jake's hostile mood that had enveloped the group.

Marshall's gaze snapped from where it had been uncomfortably resting on Fiona, well, at least uncomfortable for her, and turned to Finn. A grin growing as he fished two tickets from his pocket.

"Here, these are the tickets as promised; two front row tickets to _The Scream Kings at the Cube_. Backstage passes, the works." He wiggled his eyebrows at Fiona as he handed the tickets to Finn, who was looking at the tickets as if they were made out of gold.

"Did you just use 'front row' and 'Scream Kings' in the same sentence?" Jake said excitedly, grabbing the tickets from Finn's grasp and reading the ticket. "Man, how were you able to score these babies?" He asked Marshall excitedly, all of his previous aggression wasting away with the mention of his favorite band.

"It does seem so..." He replied, shifting his body a little closer to Fiona. She inched away towards Finn, and he did not move any closer. Finn playfully snaked his arm around her shoulder.

"Good afternoon fellow students!" A bright, cheerful voice rang from behind.

She turned around to see who had called to them. _Can this situation get any worse?_

It was Bernabon, an cordial smile played on his lips as he strutted up to the group. He had regained much of his earlier charm. He was dressed in a crisp white shirt with a navy sweater. His hair was still the same bubblegum pink, but had been styled a little differently this afternoon, not every hair was gelled into place as usual, but was longer in the front with shorter sides giving him more of a, dare say it, counter culture flare.

He didn't seem to notice anyone else as he entered into the now, quite large group, his eyes plastered on Fiona alone. She blushed. His gaze as potent and powerful as it had been a few nights ago in the room... Her blush deepened at the thought of him without his shirt...

"So what are we up to on this fine autumn afternoon?" He continued, clapping his hands together and looking around at the baffled expressions that gaped back at him.

Rain and Jake were speechless. If the shock of the addition of Marshall to the group had left them confused, then Bernabon had made the situation almost unbelievable. Rain shot her an accusatory glare, glancing between Marshall, Bernabon, Finn, and then back to her. Fiona shrugged and sent her a _I'll explain later_ look. Rain mouthed the words "You better." while the boys were preoccupied with sizing each other up.

"Well Fiona and I have practice to get to..." Finn finally replied.

"Is that so?" Bernabon said politely, his gaze slowly falling from Finn's face to his arm, and what it was snaked around. _Oh glob... _Bernabon's posture stiffened a little and he shifted his critical gaze to Fiona. She looked away and Finn pulled his arm away instinctively from her shoulders.

"Oh my, well that simply won't do." Bernabon replied, standing a little taller, and moving a little closer to Finn, no doubt tempting to intimidate him, callously unaware of how his actions were appearing to passing students who whispered quietly to each other and walked a little more slowly, their interests growing at the unusual sight of the Class President in a normal high school social setting.

"And why is that Bubba?" Marshall chimed in, stepping in between the two standoffish teens.

Bernabon shifted his glare from Finn to Marshall, but it took him a moment to register the person who stood before him. "Is that you Marshall Lee?" Bernabon scoffed.

"Who the _fuck_ else would it be?" Marshall hissed, acting like a feral cat that had been cornered by a large and dangerous dog.

Bernabon rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Fiona, his gaze was no longer warm and friendly, but cold and calculating. It frightened her.

She instinctively shriveled from it, taking a step back towards Marshall and Finn. His expression seemed to cool into one of indifference and he smirked, either he was aware that he was frightening her, or he was simply masking it, bottling it up to be released later when he was free from the prying, judgmental eyes of Vincent Academy.

"You see Marshall," he hissed. "Ms. Keadersen and I have an appointment for tutoring after school today. I just finished my weekly check in with her Remedial Algebra teacher, and I regret to inform her that she just failed the test she took last tuesday. Not that you would know, seeing as to you avoid going to class like the plague." He finished, seeming to speak to everyone and only to her all at once.

"Well Rain and I better get going we have stuff to do..." Jake interrupted, excusing them from the toxic aura spewing forth from the Class President and the reclusive rocker. Neither young men broke their glare as Jake and Rain darted from the group hand-in-hand, giggling nervously as if they had narrowly avoided a ticking time bomb. Fiona wished she could have escaped with them. Finn stared at the ground, unwilling to leave Fiona alone to diffuse the situation herself, but not brave enough to intervene between the two fuming young men.

"Last time I checked." Marshall spat, arching his shoulders and curling his hands into tight fists. "Fiona wasn't yours to order around was she?"

Bernabon's expression continued to soften until it was once again pleasant and clam, but she could tell that it was all a rouse. "For your information Mr. Lee, it is my business, seeing that I am her tutor." And with that he grabbed Fiona by the hand and pulled her away from the group. She tried to break free from his grasp, but he was unreasonably strong. Stronger than he had been the last time they had met.

* * *

"Well fuck." Marshall spat as he watched her disappear out the doors of the main entrance.

"What do we do now?" Finn asked.

Marshall ran a frustrated hand thought his hair, still unused to the new texture and feel. "There is no 'we' here kid."

Finn's brow furrowed and he leaned against the wall. "There is when Fiona is involved. I don't care about yours and princey over there's history, but when you bring Fiona into your spout, you have made it my problem."

Marshall looked up at the ceiling and smiled, amused by the Fiona's boy toy and his willingness to help him if it meant saving Fiona. "You have guts kid, I can't deny that, but I think you should let the big boys sort things out by themselves."

Finn grabbed Marshall by the collar and shoved him up against the wall, his eyes burning with anger, his whole body tense. He was surprisingly strong, stronger than Marshall had given him credit for, but he didn't try to wriggle from his grasp, he didn't even say a word, he only smiled. No one interrupted the two, they simply scurried by, avoiding eye contact with either of them.

"Alright kid, I got it." Marshall said, raising his hands in submission. Finn lowered him slightly. "But I don't think tag teaming Prince Not-so-charming is our best bet. What you need to do right now is trust me. I have an inside source..."

Finn glared, but Marshall only shrugged. Seeming to take his word as truth, Finn let go of Marshall and let him fall to the ground before pulling a piece of paper and a pencil from his satchel and scribbling something on it and handing it to Marshall as he got up from where Finn had dropped him.

"Here. This is my phone number, if you see anything suspicious, just call me and I will be there in minutes." With that he turned and left Marshall standing in the hallway.

Marshall pushed his glasses back up the ridge of his nose and peered down at the scribbled numbers. He crunched the piece of paper in his hand, his fist curling so tightly that his nails began to dig into his palm. _Don't you worry Finn, I won't let that monster have her... _

* * *

Bernabon was dragging her towards the front gate when she finally broke free from his grasp. He looked a little alarmed as she did so.

"Bernabon stop!" She screamed.

He looked concerned, taking a step towards her, but she only took another step away from him.

"I don't understand..." He began.

"I...I... I can't do this Bernabon. I can't do this anymore..." She whimpered, falling to the pavement as a gust of wind lapped at her hair and tore her hat from her head.

He kneeled down next to her. "Fiona, oh Fiona, can't you understand that I love you? Can't you see that?" He confessed, pulling her into his arms, but she remained ridged as he did so, but this only made him press her thin frame to him more tightly. "The thought of someone else being with you... even touching you makes me sick. I want to beat any boy who as so much as looks at you with a lustful eye."

She began to relax a little in his arms and he began to stroke her hair.

Suddenly there was a rush of footsteps that halted behind her. "Master Schweet..." A breathless Pep gasped.

Bernabon looked up from nuzzeling Fiona's hair and glared at Pep. "Pep, I thought I told you to..." He growled.

"Master Schweet, I know what you are about to say, but we do not have the time. Your father has fallen extremely ill in Singapore..." Pep interrupted.

Bernabon's shoulders sank and he hesitantly pulled away from her. She looked up at him, but his expression was unreadable. _This is what he has spent his life preparing for isn't it? This exact moment? The moment to prove himself as a 'true Schweet'... _

He gave her an apologetic smile before standing up and dusting off his pants. "Alright Pep, I shall see to it. Please inform the pilot we will be leaving shortly."

"Master Schweet, you do not mean to..."

"Yes Pep," He cut him off. "That is exactly on what I intend to do, so please go make ready to leave."

Pep nodded obediently and retrieved a phone from his breast pocket. He punched at the screen before bringing the phone to his ear. Meanwhile, Bernabon helped Fiona to her feet and dusted her off.

"One of these days we will actually have that tutoring session..." He teased, caressing her face.

She blushed, but said nothing.

Pep pulled the phone from his ear and pressed the screen, hanging up and making his way back over to them. "Master Schweet, we must be going now. There is not a second to spare."

He nodded in agreement. "Yes Pep, you are right once again." He pressed a light kiss to her cheek, looking sadly into her eyes as he pulled away. "Well then Miss Fiona, I must be going."

She nodded. "Yes Berna... I mean, Bubba." He smiled warmly at her, but his eyes could not conceal his sadness.

"Atta girl, I knew I would get you to say it eventually..." He winked and squeezed her hand once more before letting it go. "Until we meet again..." He whispered softly before turning to Pep to leave.

"Yes, until we meet again..." She whispered, watching the two elegant figures disappear into the distance of the leaf-covered walkway.

Another figure appeared next to her after the others had completely vanished. "Don't worry, they will be back. I've tried, but I can never keep him away for too long."

She looked up at Marshall. He pulled her white bunny hat from his left pocket, offering it to her. She quickly took it and put it back on, and he promptly shoved his hands back into his pockets.

_She had never been completely sure of her feelings about Bernabon, but as she thought of his absence, her heart began to ache, because losing him, in some odd way, was like severing one of her last connections with her home... If only then had she truly known the implications of that last goodbye. If only she had known how long it would be until they met again... _


	14. A Change of Wardrobe

**HELLO READERS! Two quick updates. **

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* * *

**CHAPTER 14: A CHANGE OF WARDROBE **

Fiona fell backwards onto her bed in a huff of frustration. _This is impossible..._

"Having trouble, sweetie?" Cake peeked into the room.

Fiona sat up, pulled her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around her legs. "Cake, why does this have to be so hard?" She nodded towards the three hangars draped thoughtlessly over the edges of her closet doors.

"Wardrobe problems?" She raised an eyebrow, glancing between the frustrated ball of Fiona who sat silently fuming on the bed, and the abused piles of clothing scattered around the room.

Fiona didn't reply. Instead she proceeded to fall onto her side, still curled up into a tight ball, and stare thoughtfully out the doors that led to her private balcony, her getaway. The one that served as her personal life line to Finn.

Cake pulled the three outfits down from their perch over the closet doors and wiped at the invisible dust that had seemed to gather there over the last few minutes. "Well what is wrong with this one?" She asked, looking thoughtfully at a slightly wrinkled, black, form fitting dress.

"I think it's a little too mature for the concert." She mumbled, never looking up to see which one Cake was referring to.

"How do you even know which one I am holding?" Cake said accusatively, glaring at Fiona, dropping the dress on the ground and planting her hands on her hips.

"Black dress?" Fiona mumbled suspiciously.

"But you didn't even look..." Cake sighed.

"Cake..." Fiona began, finally sitting up and arching an eyebrow back at her. Her hands falling carelessly into her lap. "I have spent a lot of time with these..." She paused, glaring accusingly around the room at the discarded clothing. "Things." She finished, standing up and stretching, then walking towards the balcony, resting her head against the cool, closed glass doors.

Cake sighed in distress. "Well what is so bad about..." She began holding up another outfit, this one a black leather jacket with a cherry red tank top and a pair of tight skinny jeans with lots of zippers sewn into the sides.

"I don't know if I want to dress for cold weather... I mean what if it is super hot at the concert... I mean I don't want to be uncomfortable." She whined, pressing her burning cheeks to the icy comfort of the glass.

Cake rolled her eyes, holding up the third and final outfit. It was a simple pair of black jeans and the Scream Kings logo sprawled across a worn out sweatshirt. She wrinkled her nose at it. "Fiona, this is a date, not a day lounging around the house, you have to at least pretend to try."

Fiona spun around, blinking slowly at her. "Cake, this is not a date. Finn and I are friends. That is it."

"Fiona Baby, can't you see that he is crazy for you?"

Fiona rubbed at her face, anxiety festering in her stomach, creating a euphoric feeling of sinking and floating all at once. She wanted to argue with Cake. To prove to her that her accusations were unsupported, but she knew that Cake had a keener intuition than she let on, and a little part of her wanted Cake's theories to be correct.

"Cake, I don't have time for this. Just help me pick." She moaned, falling back onto the bed once more.

"You have made me do this Fiona Keadersen." Cake warned, picking up her phone from her side table and pressing at the screen.

"Cake what are you..." She began, jumping from the bed and bolting towards her.

Cake smiled sweetly as she gracefully dodged Fiona's half-hearted attempt at stopping her, pressing a finger to her lips and winking as she brought the phone to her ear. "Now, now. Is that anyway for a lady to act?"

Fiona's knees hit the far wall, sending her backwards. Her fuzzy socks on the hardwood floor having once again failed to stop her before she could injure herself. She groaned and sat up, glancing questioningly at Cake, who had began tapping her foot impatiently as the phone continued to ring. After what seemed forever, the recipient finally picked up. Cake's eyes glinted mischievously. "Cake... What are you doing?" Fiona eyed her resentfully from her place on the ground.

"Oh Finny-pooh, I have a little favor to ask..." Cake began, her voice as smooth as silk and twice as soft. This was the voice she used when she was speaking to one of her bosses or her publisher. It was the voice that guaranteed to get her whatever she asked for. The awkward Finn would be powerless against her veteran charms.

"Oh no Cake, you can't!" Fiona growled, lunging at her once more.

Cake danced out of her path seconds before Fiona was able to make contact with her hands. Darting in and out of her reach playfully. All the meanwhile continuing her conversation on the phone.

_"Yes Finny, it is me, Cake. And I must request your services..." _

_"Oh yes, I can wait a few..." _

_"Oh no Finn, please take your time..." _

_"I will see you then..." _

Her voice as sweet as honey. _Cake, why are you doing this to me? _

Cake finally pulled the phone from her ear and let Fiona grab it from her. Pulling it towards her chest possessively and then shooting Cake an accusatory glare. Cake simply shrugged and walked from the room, pausing at the doorway, glancing back at her.

"Oh yes, Finn will be here in a few minutes to help you decide. Since you two are "just friends", it should be no problem that he helps you pick out your outfit for the concert tonight." She shot Fiona a mischievous smile before disappearing into the hallway. Her heels clicking towards the living room, waiting for Finn's eminent knock at the door.

Fiona surveyed the mess that had enveloped her room._ Glob, did I make this mess? _

She began running around her room, picking up the piles and shoving them back into her closet, it wasn't really clean, but at least he couldn't see it. She cursed herself for not running a vacuum over the room. She didn't feel right having the maid, Cake had recently hired upon her return from her business trip, clean up her personal space.

_Glob. Glob. Glob... _

She continued to dart around her room, shoving more clothes into her now overfilling closet.

_Did I just hear footsteps? _

Her heart began to race and she slid on the floor as she scooped up the last pile of clothing, quickly shoving them into the now barely-shutting closet. She could swear she heard the doorbell ring.

_Damn Cake for doing this to me! _

She stumbled, crashing into the side of her quite full laundry hamper on her way towards the door. It wobbled, then tumbled over. The clothing spilling allover the floor next to her bed.

_Oh you have to be kidding me..._ She thought, rushing over to he pile. _Maybe I can lock the door and stall Finn for a few moments so I can clean this up... _Glancing over to her partly-open door. She got back up, stumbling once again in the process, as she darted to the door, her hand grasping the handle before she felt the other side violently jerk before hurling backwards toward her. With a sickening thump, her face made contact with the door. Throwing her to the floor. Finn peeked over from the other side of the door.

"Fi, are you in here?"

She only groaned in response.

He glanced down at the ground here she laid sprawled out. Fiona, sitting up, now rubbed at her aching forehead.

"My gosh Fi, are you okay?" He knelt down next to her, taking her head in his hands, examining her face from different angles. She didn't fight him, his arms strong and welcoming, the scent of his cologne intoxicating to her. She finally opened her yes, bright little stars flooding her vision as she did so. She smiled, looking at him and batting her eyelashes playfully. "We really need to stop meeting like this." She teased, pushing his hands away and standing up. He remained on the floor, but rocked back onto his heels so he could look up at her.

He smiled happily. "I agree."

* * *

"You really don't have to do this..." Crossing her arms over her chest, feeling silly at this whole situation. _Oh I could kill Cake right now..._

Finn examined the three outfits displayed before him on the bed, but said nothing.

She sighed and began to wander aimlessly around the room, finally coming to rest in her favorite reading chair by the doors that led out to her balcony. She watched Finn intently as he touched the different fabrics and held them up to the light, inspecting them more closely. Finally drawing his hands away and turning to her. "To be honest, I don't really like any of these."

She growled, frustrated that her comrades were so intent on making this experience as miserable as possible.

"However..." He continued, aware of her darkening mood. "I like the black dress from this outfit, the leather jacket from this one, and the shoes from the last one." He pointed to different parts of the three outfits.

Her features relaxed a little and she sat up from her slouching posture in the chair. She had never thought of combing the different parts of the outfits she had always bought directly off the mannequins in the stores Cake had drug her into, but it just seemed to come so naturally to Finn, matching patterns and textures to create a whole different outfit, it was effortless.

"Alright. But you have to go somewhere else while I change." She stated matter-of-factly, beginning to push him towards the door.

"But Fi..." He whined, digging his heels into the floor.

"What?" She continued to shove him towards the door.

"Cake was on the phone when I came in, and from some of the choice language she was whispering into her end as I walked in, it was a pretty... Private conversation. Don't send me out there to embarrass myself." He pleaded.

She slowed her shoves._ He's right. It's Friday, and that means Cake is having one of her "meaningful" and a little embarrassing phone dates with her boyfriend abroad... I can't leave Finn to that horror... _

"Fine." She huffed, blowing her bangs from her vision. "But you stay in here." She warned.

"Then where will you go?"

She pointed towards her closet. "Don't. Peek." She ordered. "I would hate to screw up that pretty face of yours because you got a little too curious."

He smirked, falling backwards onto the bed. "Like I ever would Fi. You are my friend. I will respect your privacy."

She gave him one last glare before disappearing behind the closed closet doors. He sighed, sinking deeper back into the pillows of her bed, the remaining garments crunching and shifting under his long legs. But the longer he sat there, the more his mind wandered... Unknowingly, his hand began to wander to the top of his pants... _WHAT AM I DOING?!_ He sat up, horrified.

_Fiona is mostly naked on the other side of that door..._ He glanced cautiously towards the closet, as if she was testing him, waiting for him to break his word. But all was silent. No sign of her.

Good... He thought, sitting up and rubbing his neck._ I am her friend, I can't confuse her by trying to be more..._

"Finn?" She called a little nervously from behind the closed door.

"Hmm?" He replied, slinking down to the floor, his legs sprawled carelessly out in front of him, his back resting against her bed. His hand brushed against a silky midnight blue dress that spilled from a knocked over laundry hamper. He picked it up and examined it. He had seen it before, but where...?

"Finn, can you please help me?" She appeared at the edge of the closet, her hands holding up the unzipped black dress. Her head held at an odd angle peering at him through her lose hair. He blushed a little, standing up and dropping the ripped dress.

She met him half way, her red heels clicking rhythmically and turned her back to him lifting her hair, offering him the zipper. He breathed a little deeper, unaware of how long the zipper was, extending from the top of her hips upwards. He gulped and his breath became wavered, his shaky hand gripped at the zipper, slowly pulling it upwards. Get a hold of yourself man...

Everything went by in slow motion. The individual teeth interlocking together as he slid the golden zipper upwards. He finally pulled a shaky, pale hand from her shoulders, lingering a millisecond too long. He hoped she hadn't noticed.

She flipped her hair back and turned to face him, smiling and thanking him before gliding back to the closet. Pulling her leather jacket from its hiding place inside the closet and walking back over to him. He tried to play it cool, returning to his perch on the floor, pulling the ripped dress back into his lap, playing with the intricate seam work on the bodice. Her whole body tensed as her gaze met the clothing sitting in his lap.

Her heart clenched and her pulse quickened... _The dress... That dress..._ Memories flooded her mind, swirling around her. The sights, sounds, the very taste of the warm, smokey room she had spent that one night in. The night she would never be apart of... _Well, never again... _She had missed her opportunity, now Bernabon was on the other side of the world, nursing his ailing father and waiting for his chance to snatch the title he was born to bear. She had caught glimpses of him during the news coverage of the tragedy, but mostly quick pans of his face among the entourage of doctors and personal assistants that swirled around his father's bed. As if he were the hive, and they the worker bees. His pink hair once again dull and lifeless, his brows knitted together in worry, a boring gray suit making him look older and so serious. She didn't want to think of Bernabon, or even Gumball, as the lifeless shell her friend had recently become...

Finn looked up at her questioningly. "Fi, is everything okay?"

Her jaw clenched and unclenched. Her heart dropping and rising with the quickening of her pulse. She tried to calm herself, to try to make everything seem moderately normal. _Bernabon had moved on, so why couldn't she? He is going to be the head of the largest conglomerate in the world... He will never think about me again... _She winced, clutching at her heart.

"Fi..." Finn whispered worriedly, standing up and dashing to her side. Her breathing was uneven. Her eyes began to water, and her body began to shake. Now he remembered, he remembered where he had seen that dress before. It was the one she had worn when she rang her doorbell last Saturday morning, but she had change out of it so quickly that he didn't really remember it until that moment. "Fi, what's the matter?"

I see how this is Bernabon, this is like a disease isn't it? This broken heart? This pain? She doubled over, her forehead touching the glossy wood floors. The atmosphere so thick and silent they could hear each other's heartbeats, the cooing whispers of Cake down the hall. No tears came this time to stab behind her eyes.

And as just as soon as it came, it went. She sat up and pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes, rubbing them in a rhythmic clockwise motion. "Sorry." She mumbled apologetically.

He only smiled and soothingly rubbed her back. "Nobody is perfect."

She wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Well... Aside from you." Her eyes were trusting, so trusting. He felt so guilty for thinking of her in _that_ way...

He stood up, trying to play off her words, trying to pretend like they didn't mean anything to him. _ Perfect... Am I really perfect? To her? _

Suddenly, a phone began to ring. They looked at each other, she only shrugged. Knowing it wasn't her phone. He felt his own pocket, and realized he was the one ringing. Shocked, he pulled it out and glanced at the screen. His blood ran cold as he read the screen, "**Dad**".

He gulped. "Fi, I have to take this..."

She nodded and he disappeared out onto the balcony, closing the door tightly behind him. She watched him pace around the perimeter for a little bit before closing the curtains in an attempt to give him more privacy. In the meantime she snatched up the ripped dress and the awful reminders it whispered to her and shoved it in the trash bin. Sealing the thoughts away with it. All of a sudden her sock drawer began to vibrate.

_You have got to be kidding me..._

* * *

He shivered in the twilight air. The sun having disappeared below the horizon, now only the quickly deepening swirls of red and blue remained in the sky.

"What is it?" He hissed.

"Now son, is that any way to speak to your old man?" A slurred voice hiccuped from the other end.

"It is when he is drunk. You are interrupting my evening." He continued.

"Oh what? What am I interrupting? Another binge watch of those Chinese action movies you buy by the case?" There was a cruel twinge to the slurs now.

Finn gritted his teeth but remained silent.

"Or did you finally manage to find yourself a nice piece of tail?" He continued.

"If this is the only reason you called, I am going to hang up now..." Finn threatened.

"No, no, no. That won't do!" He screeched.

Finn fished the pack of cigarettes out of his left pocket along with a half-used set of matches. He balanced the phone between his ear and shoulder as he plucked the first available cigarette from the pack and placed it between his teeth, not bothering to tap it against the package, next he struck a match and brought it to the end. On the other end of the line, there was nothing but the sound of rustling papers.

"Finny boy, you still there?" His dad finally reappeared on the line.

"Yes dad, I am here." He drew a deep breath, sucking in the rich fumes of expensive, imported tobacco.

"Good...well I have some big news for ya kiddo..."

* * *

She dug through her sock drawer, upon reaching the bottom she was met with the illuminated screen of a Marshall's phone. _That's odd... I could have sworn I turned it off when I first put it in there..._

There was a message, followed by two more, causing the phone to vibrate wildly. "Alright, alright! I am coming!" She pulled the phone from its confines in the dresser and brought it to her face.

**3 New Messages from Marshall**

She slid the phone to unlock it, her face reddening as she was met with the... Embarrassing photo he had set as his background. Oh I could kill him...

She clicked on the message icon in the corner of the screen.

**Marshall**: Hey.

**Marshall**: Hello?

**Marshall**: iz anyone there?! D:

She rolled her eyes, slightly amused by his impatience and immaturity. Another message appeared.

**Marshall**: I can tell u r reading these messages... ( ｀∧´)

She dropped the phone like a hot rock, then quickly picked it back up and began typing.

**Fiona**: Yesh, can't a girl get any privacy?

**Marshall**: excuse me if i like to make sure my property is being taken care of

She rolled her eyes, hoping that he was referring to his phone. She knew in her heart that he wasn't, but she was too tired to argue with him.

Fiona: What do you want Marshall?

Marshall: can't a boy talk to a pretty girl once in a while without being judged?

_Why was she even responding? _

She unlocked the phone once more, getting ready to respond when she heard the door leading to the balcony click open, letting Finn back inside the warmth of her room. She grinned at him, setting the phone down on top of the dresser. "What did your dad have to say?"

He looked solemnly at her, his nose and cheeks kissed with the pinkish tinge of a cold evening. His phone held in his left hand at his side. His eyes scanning the floor with feigned interest.

"Finn, what is it?" She urged.

He said nothing, he simply walked over to her, and stood before her, staring at their shoes.

"I don't want it to be like this." He whispered to the floor.

"Finn..." She looked at him, searching his expression for some hint of an answer.

All at once he scooped her up in his arms and held her tightly to his chest. "I don't want this Fi, I don't want this at all..."

She stopped trying to guess. She simply returned his hug. He meanwhile, nuzzled the slope of her neck, wafting in her rich, woodsy scent. Knowing that everything he treasured most in the world was about to change...

* * *

He was first to break from the embrace. She stood there, a little dumbstruck, astounded over how willing her body was to remain in his arms for so long. He looked into her eyes and awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck. "I have to go take care of some stuff before we head out for the concert."

"Okay." She blushed, grinning as he gave her a slight smile and a nod before walking out her door.

"See you in a bit Fi." He winked, trying to act warm and happy.

"Don't be late!" She teased as she heard his footsteps down the hallway and disappear as he walked out the door.

Marshall's phone began to vibrate on her dresser again. A little flustered, she brushed off her dress and flipped her hair, strutting confidently over to the dresser once more and reading the new message.

**Marshall**: Anyways, i was wondering if u wanted to meet up b4 the concert?

**Fiona**: I don't know... Don't you have... Warm ups or something like that?

**Marshall**: Naw, it's not like they can start without me, they live for my command.

She rolled her eyes. Just when I thought he couldn't be anymore conceited...

**Fiona**: Fine. Meet us at The Treehouse in an hour.

After a few moments he responded.

**Marshall**: Roger, see u then.

_I hope he knows that Finn will be accompanying us this evening..._


	15. I want more

** AUTHOR'S NOTES **

**Hi everyone! Two quick notes on this chapter: **

**One: I am so sorry about the slowness of this update. I was struggling a little bit with the wording without it sounding repetitive as well as I am working on the update for my other fic which I have kind of abandoned until recently, but will post sometime in the near future. So thank you for your patience and support.  
**

** Please do not worry. I am not abandoining this fic! **

**Two: As a fellow fangirl, I know that one update can make or break a chapter. Proceed reding this chapter cautiously... **

**NOT EVEYTHING IS AS IT APPEARS!  
**

**I can already tell you that the next update is going to be good, so please don't abandon hope or think that you have the story already figured out.**

**alright, enough of me babbling. NOW COMMENCE THE GOOD STUFF! **

* * *

Marshall was leaning against the wall, entranced with what he beheld on his phone screen. It was all too easy to sneak up behind him...

"Guess who?" A rough voice whispered in his ear, calloused hands cupping over his eyes and blocking out all the light.

Marshall clawed at the fingers that had clasped tightly around his eyes, but to no avail. He could have found out if he really wanted to, he could have pulled the arm along with the body connected to it over his head and hit the ground with a sickening thud if he had pleased, he was the future boss of one of the largest and most affluential crime syndicates in the world, that title came along with the ability to hold ones own if his body guard was not present. But he had mote important things on his mind, and a pretty sure idea of who was behind this childish game. Seeming to read his thoughts, the pair of hands pressed tighter against his face and the same rough voice whined "oh you really are no fun these days..."

Marshall playfully felt at the hands, pretending to examine them thoughtfully with his long fingers. "Well..." He began. "From these baby soft hands, I assume it must be someone with a mighty small dick, or possibly no dick at all from the childlike resemblance." He took a deep whiff of the hand, inhaling the smell of stale tobacco and greasy food. "Wait... I know that smell..." He took another long whiff. "Yes, it is! The faint reminiscence of mothballs and lavender lotion... Grandma, is that you?" He teased.

The voice behind him growled in indignation and Marshall felt a bony knee make contact with his back, forcing most of the air out of his lungs in one choking breath. "Try again."

Marshall couldn't help but smile at the reaction, he knew for sure who it was, there was no doubt in his mind now. He drummed his fingers playfully against the hands pretending to think, the hands continued to squeeze tighter around his face. "Well... Since it's not my grandma... The only other person I could think of with that small of a dick would have to be... Ash I guess. I mean man, it is tiny."

The hands released their grasp of his face and Marshall turned to see a sulking Ash standing behind him. He immediately stood tall and boastful again as he realized Marshall was eyeing him. He pulled a hand through his hair, pretending to shake off Marshall's cruel words.

Ash was slightly taller than Marshall with deep green eyes. He had hair so blond it was arguably white. He was the lead guitarist in the band and dressed as a swamp monster when they played, which was ideal because he was so tall and slender. For all of his cocky, self assured ways, he was still intimidated by Marshall at times, and this was one of those times. Especially when he was in this weird of a mood.

"And for your information..." Ash began, attempting to revive the playful spark between them. "Old Rags and I..." Which was the nick name he had himself deemed his... Nether regions... "Are quite alright when it comes to the ladies, so I would suggest you reconsider your assessment of what is deemed the adequate size." He finished, placing a hand on his crotch and thrusting his hips forward in a crude manner in Marshall's direction before darting away to see what the others were doing.

_Big vocabulary for such a small brat..._

Marshall shrugged, amused with his bandmate's immature behavior. With most others who acted that way, Marshall would have either beaten them senseless or had Hambo do it for him, but Ash was different... He was just a snot nosed kid with a guitar. Someone who knew nothing of Marshall's life, well, not really. He only knew what Marshall let him and the rest of his bandmates believe. That he was some punk who dropped out of high school and worked for some lowlifes on the side to bring in some extra dough. He never presented himself as perfect person, but it didn't seem like any of them really cared. All of them had pasts, but none wanted to be the first to admit it. What brought them together was a passion for music.

_"Leave the drama at the door, you are here for something greater..."_ Those words echoed in his head at that moment, the words FP had first said to the band after their first practice, which had been followed by their first, and their last, fight. It all began over something so trivial it had been long since forgotten, but the words remained forever in his memory.

He pulled his phone from its hiding place in his pocket, clicking the button to check the time.

_I better get going..._

* * *

His fist made contact with the wall as the entryway door slammed behind him. He felt the skin covering his knuckles split and the tingling sensation of blood trickling from the wounds as he pulled his fist from the cave he had made out of plaster and Sheetrock.

"How dare he?" He spat at the wall, trusting the opposite fist into the wall, creating a bigger hole.

"How dare he? How could he? Why would he?" With each question he alternated more powerful punches directed at the defenseless wall. His knuckles splitting more with each blow until his hands were dyed with the stain if his own blood.

He staggered over to the couch before collapsing on top of it. His bloody hands smearing the immaculate white suede pillows with long, inconsistent, scarlet streams. His muffled cries ringing from his throat and being pressed into the cool cushions.

The conversation with his father raced through his mind, this time he seemed to be a spectator in his own memories, looking down at his stiff form from up above. He sat up and pulled a crushed cigarette from his pocket and held it between his teeth. At this point it was not the rush of nicotine that made his heart race, it was the very action of bringing the filter to his lips, the deep inhale of thick, poisonous smoke that seeped from his mouth and nose. It was to pacify him now, not to poison his body, which was his intention when he had first picked up the habit.

He remembered his father's course whispers, as if someone else could pick up on their private phone conversation. "Since you are the one and only heir to the family, I think it is about time that we start to peruse perspective mergers..."

"What are you saying?" He cut his father off before he could continue his billowy speech.

The rich autumn wind whipping around him and making him shiver.

He could hear the feint chuckle of his father on the other end. "That's what I like about you my boy, you aren't willing to put up with shit from anybody, not even from your old man, your own flesh and blood."

"Get to the point." He growled, growing more eager for his father's explanation. Anxious that his worst fears were becoming a reality.

"What I am saying Finn, is that I have been contacted by a very influential family..."

"I fail to see what this has to do with me."

"Well, you see, it has everything to do with you because you are to be engaged!"

He almost threw the phone off the balcony. He could feel his spine begin to tingle and his brow begin to sweat.

_What does he mean...?_

Seeming to sense his son's confusion, his father continued quickly. "I mean you are not to be married until after your graduation from high school, but she seems like a nice girl with excellent breeding, and quite a sizable dowry. I think her connections would be a nice flushing-out of the company."

Finn's expression darkened. "So you see me as a form of equity?"

The line remained silent for a few moments. His face broke out into a cruel smile while he awaited his father's chain of poor explanations and excuses. _So this is the way my life is to play out, to be married to a woman I neither know, nor love..._

He couldn't help but glance back, watching Fiona, with her back to him, she was fumbling with something inside her dresser. His expression softened a little. His father continued.

He waited long enough for his father to run out of steam before hanging up. He began making his way back when he froze. As much as he didn't want to admit it he had been in shock during the phone call, and now that it was over, the true magnitude of what his father had told him set in.

The life he had always planned for was disintegrating before his very eyes. To be honest it had been tearing apart at the seams before this point, but this phone call was the final blow. He had been abandoned by his best friend as well as his father, and his only remaining friend, the one he had trusted so quickly, the one who invoked thoughts and feelings he had never felt towards another, was being torn from him. The life they might have had together, the life he dared not even think of for fear of it slipping away, as it had proven to do, was gone with the end of a phone call.

His head began to pound and his legs wavered beneath him, but he pushed himself forward, using every ounce of his strength to will his body towards the door, towards her. He couldn't stay on the balcony forever, and this day would set, and another would arise, and with that new day came the start of his new life, the life he had been dreading. But this night would be his swan song, his final performance, he would have the night of his life with the girl of his dreams, and like Cinderella when the clock struck midnight, this magic would vanish with the coming morning. He would banish all thoughts and feelings of his friend which strayed from that of strictly friendship. He would create a lifetime of happiness in one evening. This would be his pacification for the remainder of his life.

With this final thought he had reached the glass doors, and all at once his confidence fled from him as he turned the handle and walked inside...

He sucked in a deep breath and sat up from the couch, his mind flooding with the hazy memories that followed his re-entrance. Her face drenched in concern, the feel of her body pressed against his, the smell of her clean hair...

All of it so intense, and all so fleeting. He rubbed his face roughly in his hands, massaging his temples, trying to make the heat from his face subside.

He wandered into the bathroom and turned on the faucet, the almost-boiling water spouting from the tap and filling the room with steam. Looking up from the soothing tendrils of steam and whipping off the the cloudy mirror, he was met with the face of a young man he hardly recognized. A face full of concern, hollowed out by months leaned against the counter, placing his hands on either side of the sink for support. He glared at the man in the mirror, and he glared back. He smirked, thinking of how truly ridiculous this all was.

"Well, I guess this is it..." He mused, turning the tap off and walking from the room.

_One night of happiness to make up for the rest of my life..._

* * *

She turned, examining her figure in the mirror once more. Her hair slightly curled and the addition of light makeup had completed the look. It wasn't comparable to CB's magic, hers was mediocre at best, but she had already refused Cake's offer to take her to a salon because she didn't want to spend more time than she had to in that accursed black stylist's chair. The rough manner they combed through her hair, the constant yanking and tugging... It have her a headache just thinking about it.

_It's funny, back home I would have never spent this much time on my appearance... But here it seems like it is expected of me more and more..._

Marshall's phone buzzed once more. She rolled her eyes and glanced over to the top of her dresser where she had left it. She turned back to the mirror, but her efforts were futile. For the phone continued to buzz with an onslaught of messages. Annoyed, she retreated from the mirror and walked briskly over to the dresser. The phone continued to buzz as she picked it up and unlocked the screen.

She had since grown used to the raunchy screensaver, and knowing that she couldn't do anything to change it, had chosen to ignore it instead.

She clicked on the messaging icon that displayed 15 new messages.

Oh for the love of glob Marshall...

**Marshall: quick question...**

**Marshall: ok, Mayb not so quick question...**

**Marshall: where the hell am I going?**

**Marshall: i have no idea where i am right now ((((；ﾟДﾟ)))))))**

**Marshall: fi! Save me! I'm too pretty to die like this!**

**Marshall: im dead...**

**Marshall: thanks for that Fi...**

**Marshall: well since I am dead now I can haunt you as a ghost...**

**Marshall: and I will go EVERYWHERE with you |(￣3￣)|**

**Marshall: hello?!**

**Marshall: earth 2 Fi! Come in!**

**Marshall: r u ignoring me? I was just joking about being dead & everything**

**Marshall: Fi**

**Marshall: Fi**

**Marshall: i am so lost... (-｡-;**

She couldn't suppress her smile as she started typing her reply.

**Fiona: I am leaving in a little bit. Hold on.**

She glanced around her room one last time, making sure she had everything she needed. Nodding, she pulled on her jacket and picked up her matching studded leather black clutch which sat on top of the dresser, along with her phone. After a momentary consideration, she also grabbed Marshall's old phone and shoved it into her pocket. Switching off the lights as she opened the door, she looked back at the room one more time. Everything was cast in shadow, the only source of light coming from her balcony and the twinkling lights of the city and smoke.

Unable to resist the urge, she stepped towards the closed glass doors, enchanted by the very things she hated about this world... The hazy film of glimmer that enveloped this world, turning the seemingly ordinary, into something it could never be. The extraordinary. When she had first arrived in this land, she thought that there was no magic, but this could not be more from the truth. This world possessed its own form of magic, a magic that whispered promises of fantastic lives full of enchanting people... People like she had known back home... Would never exist in this world, but this wasn't even true. She had found the silver lining to this dark world, the familiarity in the faces of the unfamiliar. _Marshall Lee, Gumball, Cake..._

Pressing her hands against the icy glass, she pushed the doors open and wandered out onto the balcony once more. She didn't know why exactly she was out there at that moment, but it just felt right. The chilly wind whipping around her face, the symphony of honks and squeaking wheels below. In all of the chaos that encircled her life, this place was one of the few places she found solace. This balcony and Finn were her only strongholds.

An eerily familiar scent of exotic tobacco and curls of sickeningly sweet purple smoke billowed up from below her.

_There was no mistaking that scent..._

She rushed over to the edge of the balcony and peered down below.

Finn's crooked smile met hers. His hands shoved into the pockets of his expensive-looking brown leather jacket, and his knees crossed over each other as he leaned his back against the railing of his balcony, his back turned to the blinking city.

She smiled down at him, and he winked, but neither of them broke the silence.

Neither had words important enough to break this moment. Instinctively she drew back from the balcony's edge and skipped towards the door.

Finn smiled, looking up at the concrete above him, listening to the taps of her heels hitting the balcony as she made her way back to her room.

* * *

Cake was waiting instinctively at the door, Fiona's only exit. She was wearing her favorite caramel colored sweater and a pair of tight blue jeans, her secondary set of reading glasses balanced carefully on the bridge of her petite nose. She held a book-sized, neatly wrapped parcel in her hands. Her eyes growing wide as Fiona approached.

"You look beautiful..." She breathed.

Fiona blushed. Cake had successfully carved out a place in her heart, and to hear such kind and sweet words from her one and only benefactor in this world made her heart leap with pride and happiness.

"Thanks Cake." She replied, shuffling her feet and looking awkwardly at the ground.

Cake stared at her for a few more seconds before glancing down at the package and remembering why she was there.

"Oh yes, this is for you... Well, actually for Finn." She corrected herself. Shoving the package into Fiona's hands and stepping out of her way.

Fiona examined the package a little more closely, shifting it between both hands in an attempt to decipher the contents. But did not make any movement to leave.

"I picked it up from the same shop where I bought your bunny hat..." She continued hesitantly.

At the mention of her bunny hat, she reached up, patting at her head where her new favorite hat usually resided, but was a little disappointed to find that she wasn't wearing it.

"It reminded me of your friend Finn... And I thought it would be a nice little thank you gift for all he has done for you recently."

"But...What is it Cake?"

* * *

He sat in the entryway hallway, his back leaning against the wall, looking intently at the door as he fiddled with his left earring.

Come on man... It's not a date or anything...it's just you hanging out with your friend...

His body tensed.

Yes... Friend... That's all she will be.

He heard her amateur steps in high heels grow louder. He got up from his perch on the floor and walked to the door, opening it, and canvassing the hallway.

"Here!" She bellowed. Throwing something at him.

A small package hit him in the side of the head. He looked down as a small, perfectly wrapped package hit the floor.

"What was that for?" He muttered, stepping out into the hallway, rubbing the spot where the package had made contact with his temple and bending down to pick up the package for closer examination.

"Think of it as a thank you present for tonight." She replied briskly as she walked up next to him, placing her hands on her hips as she watched him open up the package.

He winced as he watched her eyes scan his face, slowly moving their way down to his knuckles, which had been poorly wrapped with bandages. He had been able to hide them in his pockets on the balcony, but he knew full well that he would not be able to hide them in his pockets all evening. She didn't say anything about it, knowing it would just make him upset and angry. Instead she focused her attention back on him opening his present.

His hands fumbled with the edge where the paper was folded on itself. His hands were clumsy and his heart raced. She only smiled. As he finally tore back the paper and opened the box, he was met with a pile of soft, white, fabric, or at least that is what it seemed to be. He scooped the fabric from the box, examining it in his hands.

"It's a hat..." She informed him nervously, worried that he didn't like it.

He flashed her a genuine smile, taking the hat in both hands and pulling it over his head. She giggled as the lights around him went out.

"Uh. Fi?" He murmured. "I think you bought the wrong size." The hat covered his eyes and a good portion of his face.

"Or maybe." She began, stepping closer to him, adjusting the hat backwards so that some of his hair poked through in the front. "You don't know how to wear a beanie." She teased.

His heart began to race at her closeness. The way her fingers lingered on his face. Lightly tracing his features. She kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"It looks good on you." She giggled, stepping back and making her way to the elevator.

He stood there, dumbstruck, watching her blond hair bounce in time with the rhythm of her steps. And in that moment, as he pressed a hand to the place on his cheek where she had kissed him, hoping to preserve the lingering warmth he felt, his heart shattered. The cracks that had been spreading through him for long before he could recall, had finally won. This simple, absolute action, this ordinary display of love and affection, had pushed the fragile thing beyond its limits.

He closed his eyes, feeling his body tingle. Something inside of him was changing. Something wonderful and frightening. When he finally did open his eyes up once more, he saw the world around him had changed. He didn't care any more. If the world had given up on him, then he would return the gesture, but he couldn't abandon her. She was the only bright light in his world of uncertainty and darkness.

_Yes, he would marry this girl his father had spoken of. There was no way around that, but this night, this last night of happiness, he would make Fiona Keadersen fall in love with him. She would see him the same way he saw her. He didn't care about the costs anymore._


	16. Tension Rising (Combined P I & II)

**Hi everyone, I wasn't very satisfied with my writing in this chapter, so I re-worked some of the phrasing, but it is still the same story. ^.^ **

**Chapter 16: Tension Rising (oh yes I did just combine part I AND II into one giant chapter... Don't judge me.) **

**Flashback to Several Years Before:**

The constant trickle of rain leaking from the cracked ceiling is what kept him up at night. The thought of being taken back to his last foster home is what kept him going during the day. He made his body move, even though it resisted him, begged him for food, urged him to sleep even when he knew he couldn't. He kept moving. It was his resilience and quick thinking that kept him alive the first year, lies and deceit the second, by the third year he no longer knew who he was, what he was. He simply continued to fight. Refused to die. Roaming the streets like a phantom, free from everything but hunger and the relentless cold.

It was the night he took on a group of teenage thugs and lost, felt the chilling embrace of death begin to wrap around him, it was the night he met her.

At the moment, she was overseeing the interrogation of a traitor in an alleyway, usually she didn't, but he had been her lover for several years... Until she discovered he was taking all of the information she mused to him after their love making straight to the cops...

And, well... She couldn't have that, could she?

Years later, when questioned about it, she would smile thoughtfully and reply that they had broken up over differences in loyalties.

He was lying among sheets of muddied cardboard in this same alley, his breathing bloodied and shallow. Death curling his fingers around his throat, suffocating him, pressing the air slowly from his body like an air being pushed from a balloon...

A good interrogation always left her feeling a little sentimental, or maybe it was the stream of diluted blood running from the lifeless body that had once been her lover, leading her to Marshall's quivering form. When she discovered him, she did not kill him like she would have any other day. No, she had seen enough blood shed that day, enough to satisfy her ensationable blood lust, so she ordered her men to take him with them.

Marshall was mostly unconscious at this point, but he did feel strong arms pick him up, carry him to her warm, heated car, hear the faint whispers of the men as they took bets on what their mistress would do with the young street rat once they returned to HQ. The bump as they pulled away from the curb, the one that remined him of all the injuries he was suffering from, the blood pooling in the back of his throat...

When he finally came to, he thought he was dead. He laid in a bed of clean, white and blue linen. The windows on either side of his bed open and allowing the translucent curtains that framed them to billow up towards the ceiling as a gentle breeze wafted in.

She sat in a chair facing the bed. Her legs crossed, not a single strand of hair out of place, absentmindedly sipping from a steaming mug while balancing a manila folder on the top of her right knee which she was currently reading from.

She looked up at him as he sat up and felt his body ache, no he was still alive, it hurt too much to move...

"Oh good, you are awake Mr... Abadeer, is it?"

He blinked sleepily at her and nodded.

"Well Mr. Adadeer, I have been doing some research on your current state of affairs while you were incopasitated, and I think I have come up with a proposition which will suit us both nicely." She forced a smile to spread across her pencil-thin lips as she finished.

"I don't understand." He mumbled.

He could see her mask of patience flicker as he said this, but she recovered quickly and continued. "I can see from your file that both your mother and father are dead, you are a runaway from the foster care system, and have been systematically on the run from the law since your abandonment."

He winced at her last word. It had been a long time since he had ever considered himself _abandoned_. He had decided long ago that he didn't need anybody, he was not abandoned, he was _independent_.

"And what if I decline your offer?" He crossed his arms and glared at her. Feeling the stitches above his left eye contort and squeaze as he did so.

"Then." She began, standing from her chair and walking over to sit at the bottom of his bed, placing her hand gingerly on his freshly broken leg from the fight the night before. "I will have you killed." She confessed, suddenly grasping firming around his swollen leg, making him cry out in pain. "You are a witness after all, and I do not like blabbermouths, especially street rat-thugs who would be quick to sell me out when they are caught after committing some petty crime." Releasing her grip and once again smiling sweetly at him.

He looked at her wearily, knowing he was trapped. "What do you want?"

She clapped her hands together happily and smiled. "I knew you would come around!"

He crossed his arms and frowned, which made an uncomfotrtable tug at his suchered lower lip. She continued. "Well, darling." Her sudden pet name the most forced act of sincerity he had ever witnessed, and would continue to witness throughout the rest of his relationship with this woman. "I would like you to allow me the honor of calling you my son." She beamed like a child who had just won the grand prize at the fair.

"You what?" He gasped.

"Look. I need an heir, and you need a place to live. The way I see it our circumstances could not be more perfect."

"But why me?" He gasped.

"Two reasons: One, I am recently single and do not have time for men anymore, so I do not see a baby in the near future for me. Two, you look convincing enough that I could easily pass you off as my child from a scandalous love affair I had years earlier. I could say you have been living with your father until recently, so after his recent death you have been entrusted to my caring bosom. Only my closest and most trusted will know the truth. Most importantly, you have just the qualities I want in the future heir of my dynasty..."

He scoffed at the last part.

_Theivery? Deceipt? Quick wits? These are adirable traits? Boy had he been going about it all wrong... _He thought sarcastically and chewed at the suchers on his lower lip.

Her gaze narrowed, but she said nothing for several moments. "So do we have a deal?" She smiled villainously at him, offering him her long, bony, perfectly-polished fingers.

He hesitated for a moment, wondering what other options he had. When none appeared in his mind, he took her hand and shook it hesitantly.

"Perfect, now I just need you to sign some papers..." She began, quickly rising from the side of the bed and fetching the folder she had been examining earlier. She offered him a pen from her breast pocket to sign a stack of white forms pressed carefully inside the manila folder.

He looked down at the papers, but did not make a move to sign them.

"Is something the matter?" She asked testily.

He looked up at her and smirked. "Yeah, I don't know how to sign my name."

"But how can that..."

"Did anything in those fancy folders of yours ever tell you I could write, read, or even attend a day of school in my life?"

She snatched the papers from his lap. "No son of mine is going to be an invalid! I will hire a tutor, who as of tomorrow, will give you private lessons everyday until you are caught up!" She spat as she opened the door to the room, exiting and letting the door slam shut behind her.

True to her word, she had him at the top of his age level after several months of intense teaching. His tutors were more than impressed with his ability to absorb and retain vast amounts of information. Going as far as to boast that if given a little longer, he would even be considered a minor child prodigy.

When his progress was reported back to his new mother, she would give a small smile and nod, saying that she would not expect less from her own flesh and blood.

When it came time for him to sign the papers six months after his arrival, she gave him a curt nod and ordered everyone out of the room. There they sat, alone, as it had been the first time they met. She drew the same manilla folder from her purse, the one that knew everything about him. She lit a match and brought it to the far corner of the folder. They silently watched it be consumed by the flames, and only after it had been reduced to nothing more than a pile of ash on the table did she meet his tearful gaze.

"Marshall Abadeer is dead as of this point on." She said coldly to him.

He nodded, letting the tears stream down his cheeks. Unsure why he was doing so. He had no reason to, he had no _real_ connection to it. it was just a name...

"From now on you are Marshall Lee, future heir to the Methuselah Clan. You will be ruthless, and cold. You will be my ultimate creation."

With those words a rebellious flame was set ablaze in his heart. Yes, he would be her heir, but he would never stop fighting her, he would never let her win, he would fight her every step of the way.

The following fall he was enrolled in Vincent Academy...

* * *

Marshall's grip tightened around the phone in his hand. He paced the sidewalk outside of the Treehouse. Pausing his steps, he adjusted his jacket while worrying thoughts began to swirl in his mind.

_What if this is all some big joke? What if she is in the shop across the street right now, watching me and laughing at my expense... _

He wished he had dragged Hambo along. He wished he had worn more clothing suitable for the chilly weather. Most of all, he wished he didn't feel this way. He wondered if this was self-consciousness felt like. He chuckled to himself. The self assured Marshall Lee, up and coming rock star, all flustered over some stupid girl in his Remedial Algebra class.

He settled himself, leaning against the brick wall of the Treehouse, posing more than anything, pretending he didn't care. He looked at his phone once more, hoping for a message he already knew wouldn't be there.

He heard the quickening of steps to his right. "Hey Marshall!" An overenthusiastic Finn bellowed from the other side of the bust street.

Marshall broke into a small smile -All he could manage- as his eyes drifted around Finn's waving figure, searching for the girl he couldn't get out of his mind. She wasn't beside Finn as he darted across the street, narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic, horns honking and fists being shook angrily by the time he halted inches from Marshall's feet. Holding a white beanie tight to his scalp as he did so. His smile eager and broad was infectious, making him break into a just as joyous smile.

"Sorry." He smiled apologetically as he stood heaving, trying to catch his breath. Using a poorly-wrapped knuckle to wipe at his lower lip.

"Don't be." Marshall replied nonchalantly, his eyes still scanning the opposite side of the street for Fiona. He shoved his phone into his pocket and gripped it tightly.

"So where is your 'plus one'?" He inquired, hoping that his inquiry wasn't too translucent. Finn didn't seem to notice as he corrected his posture.

"Right here." A sarcastic voice chirped.

Marshall looked to his left and gasped. She was leaning against the wall next to Marshall. Never in any of his fantasies... Well... Maybe one or two... Had he ever imagined her as she now appeared before him. Her hair a mixture of curls and waves, a studded black leather jacket and a tight black dress underneath that hugged her and flattered every curve.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "So are we going in or what? I am starving." She began walking over to the entrance of The Treehouse.

His gaze followed her as she did so. Finn stood next to Marshall for a few more moments, no doubt admiring the view himself, before tucking his bandaged hands into the folds of his leather jacket and following after her like a puppy. Playfully closing Marshall's gaping mouth with his hand, snapping him from his state of awe.

She had already disappeared inside the building when he willed his body forward. Finn holding the door open for him patiently.

As he crossed the threshold, Finn followed closely after him, pulling the door shut behind them and whispering in his ear. "I would just like to take the moment to warn you, man..." The last word he said with a mimicking twang to it. "You may look... But you may not touch tonight." With this Finn grabbed his hand which was closest to him and crushed it in his firm grasp. Not expecting this, Marshall winced momentarily in pain, but recovered quickly, pulling his hand from the glaring blond's grasp.

And as quickly as the blond's mood had come on, it passed. His glare and snarling lips whipped from his face. He smiled warmly, adjusting his hat once more before bouncing playfully over to where Fiona was checking in for their reservation. Acting as if nothing had just transpired between them.

Bending his fingers to make sure the pain was fading, Marshall glanced up at the scene of smiles and hearty laughs which played out before him. "Game on lover boy..." He muttered, slicking his hair back and strutting confidently over to butt in between the two of them as they were being shown to a staircase.

* * *

_This wasn't going at all according to his plan. At this moment he should have had Fiona confessing that she felt the same way... That her stomach fluttered and her heart raced the same way when she saw him as well..._

Finn crossed his arms and slouched in his chair, blowing the occasional lightening bug out of his face.

The Treehouse was true to its name. The spiraling staircase opening at the top to reveal their luxury dining "table" was perched on the very edge of the enormous open deck built into the side of a tree. Above them, brightly colored paper lanterns mingled with twinkling fairy lights and the occasional lightening bugs that currently, which couldn't seem to get enough of him.

He glared across the table at the two figures sitting opposite him. Who were currently both entranced in a deep discussion over the various redeeming qualities of bands he had never heard of before. He sighed with discontent, causing both of them to look up at him.

"Is everything alright, Finn?" She inquired worriedly. His gaze whipped quickly over to Marshall, who balanced his left elbow on the table and rested his chin on his palm. Marshall winked playfully at him, his gloating eyes knowing he had already bested him over dinner.

"No Fi, everything is fine." He replied, sitting up in his chair and pulling an agitated hand through his hair. An unconvincing attempt to act unscathed by his lack of inclusion in the conversation.

Marshall chuckled, but she didn't seem to notice. All of her attention was focused on her best friend. He squirmed under her gaze. Thankful for when her phone began to vibrate in her purse. She absentmindedly checked the Caller ID, but her eyes grew wide as she read the name.

"If you will excuse me." She addressed both of them with a curt nod before retreating quickly back into the building. The phone squeezed tightly in her palm.

They both watched intently as the door closed behind her, all too aware of the tension bubbling up between them like a quickly rising geyser. Finn wished he could have made up a lame apology and excuse himself from the table, but it was too late now, he was stuck.

"So..." Marshall began carefully. Sliding his eyes around the dining area, avoiding Finn's glare.

"So..." Finn replied stiffly. His hands clenching and unclenching around the arms of his whicker chair.

Marshall's chair squeaked and groaned as he shifted his weight onto his two elbows he balanced on the table, framing his face with his hands as he curiously leaned in closer to Finn. "So..." He repeated, rolling his eyes around in an exaggerated circle before coming once again to rest on Finn. "Mind explaining your earlier little... Challenge to me?"

Finn blushed with embarrassment. He had been caught up in the moment, the primeval instinct and the earlier rush of adrenaline urging him to act the way he did then. He said nothing.

"Well?" Marshall urged, turning his head playfully to one side, his eyes burning into Finn's chest. Daring him to lie.

_This boy was dangerous... Had he forgotten the rumors? Marshall Lee, the infamous Methuselah Clan heir... Finn was playing a dangerous game, and he knew, at this moment, he was loosing pitifully... _

Trying to play it cool, Finn plucked a toothpick from the container in the middle of the table and began to chew on it absentmindedly.

_Man, did he want a cigarette... _

"I don't think I need to explain myself to you..." He glowered, running the toothpick around the circumference of his top gums with his tongue.

Marshall smirked, looking at Finn the way a gardener looks at a slug, with a mischievous glint to his eyes, knowing that with the help of a spade, he could end the miserable life of the slug according to his will.

"And how far have you...gone with this girl?" Marshall smiled slyly, knowing he had cornered him once again.

His blush deepened, and he avoided eye contact with Marshall, murmuring something about a couch.

"Would you like to know how far I have gone?" Marshall interrupted, batting his eyelashes and gesturing to himself.

Finn's face paled, the thought having never occurred to him before this point... Another boy had touched her... Kissed her even... Impossible.

"I won't believe whatever you say..." He spat defensively.

Marshall stretched out like a cat, his eyes glued to Finn. Finn hoped that he had called his bluff, and they would move on, but they didn't. "It was under the shade of a tree if I remember correctly..." He began. "She ended up running away before we could get to the best part..." He smiled down at the tablecloth, reminiscing over the obscene and most likely untrue memory.

Now it was Finn's turn for his jaw to drop the toothpick falling from his lips, and hitting the floor with a soft "tik tik". Marshall smirked, reaching out over the table and closing Finn's gaping jaw with his hand, the same gesture Finn had done to him earlier. It took all of his effort not to stand up and sock Marshall in the face, instead he placed another toothpick in his mouth and began to gnash at it between his front teeth.

At this moment an old saying his grandfather used to tell him flashed through his mind: _expect the best, plan for the worst. But now all Finn could think of was the worst..._

He was speechless, countless horrible thoughts whirling through his head. The worst one being: she has already chosen...

Marshall pulled out his phone and clicked it on. The screen illuminating with the current time.

"That late already?" He mused, rising from the table and fishing his wallet out from his back pocket.

"Well, I better get going Finny old boy..." He continued, pulling out several large bills and throwing them carelessly on the table. "That should cover it several times over." He shoved his hands in his pockets and made his way to the exit as a large gust of wind whipped around them, the branches of the trees around them groaning in indignation.

As the metal door clanged shut behind him, Finn remained motionless. His hands gripping tightly into the sides of his chair until the scabbing wounds on his knuckles began breaking and oozing blood, wetting the blood-stained bandages with a fresh, crimson outline.

* * *

"It was nice of Marshall to pay for our meal..." She chirped, playfully bumping up against the side of his hip with hers as they walked down the sidewalk towards the Cube.

He said nothing.

She frowned. "Finn, did something happen between you and Marshall?"

He glanced quickly up at her, and then back down at the cracked pavement. Neither acknowledging or denying her question, just pretending that she had never asked him.

"Fi...?"

She looked up at him curiously. He had been acting strangely ever since that phone call, but she knew that if she confronted him about it, he would just deny everything. She would have to wait him out.

"Yes, Finn?"

He blushed when she used his name, he couldn't help it anymore. All too thankful for the comforting veil of darkness of the night which could only be lessened by the blinking street signs above the shops they passed.

He continued, his blush deepening as the words spilled forth from his mouth before he could stop them. He couldn't help his own curiosity. "How far have you ever gone with a guy?"

* * *

Her mouth was as dry as a bone. Finn was staring down at her intently, looking afraid to hear her answer. _Had he always been this tall?_

Her jaw creaked open and shut, open and shut, unable to produce words. An explanation. Anything.

His eyes grew wide with anger as he waited for an explanation they both knew would never be. Or was it anger? Tears were looming in the corners of his eyes, ominous, resentful. Why did he care?

_How had it come to this? What happened to going back home? What happened to not getting involved?_

Right now she was not searching for a way back home, she was enjoying herself, she was forgetting why she was here. All of this was temporary, no more than an illusion. **Never** to be taken seriously... But she had allowed herself to become consumed within this world. These people becoming just as precious as the ones back home in Aaaa...

"Well?" He looked at her, not saying this with anger, but with the air of a young man who already knew the answer, one who wished he didn't. With this one word, she saw the light begin to drain from his eyes, she could feel the bond between them begin to shatter like a bridge made out of glass. One that she had stomped on carelessly, purposefully...

Her heart began to fill with anger, hurt, resentment, self loathing. She glared at him. "Why is this any of your business? Last time I checked, I was in charge of my own body. My personal life is none of your concern!"

His expression darkened, so much so that it frightened her, she had never seen him like this before.

"You're right Fi, how stupid of me."

His chest felt like it was imploding. It was not the fact that she had been with someone else, no, he didn't care about that, but it was the thought that he had already lost the game before it began, to admit defeat. Knowing that he would never be able to look at her and know that she felt the same way...

Admiration from a distance, yearning for her laugh, her touch, from afar. Seeing her holding hands with someone who was her everything, someone who wasn't him. The sensation of jealousy moving in, slowing consuming him body and soul...

* * *

The subsequent silence that followed, the dismissive turn of his body away from her. His avoidance of her gaze... Why did it make her heart ache so? She trailed behind him. Unable to find a way to apologize, a way to make things right between them once again. She wished she had never invited Marshall along in the first place.

She yearned for his smile. The signal that all was forgiven, that they could move on like nothing had ever transpired between them, and knowing that his smile was no longer within her grasp.

* * *

Marshall tip toed into his dressing room, making sure to coax the door shut with his hand as he stepped inside, knowing that he would get an earful from FP once he found him. At this rate, Marshall would be lucky enough to avoid the lecture until after the concert, and by that point FP would be too exhausted to give him a proper talking to. He would be able to coast by with a light slap to the wrist.

Suddenly, the light in the corner of the room switched on, casting Marshall in the soft glow.

"So, would you like to explain yourself, or should I just start yelling?"

It was FP, most of his Frankenstein's Monster makeup had already been applied, he sat in the only non-folding chair in the room. It was a throne-like remake of a Victorian highbacked chair. He looked like a decomposing dictator sitting on his throne. The added distraction of the makeup made the situation seem even more bleak and depressing.

Marshall shook his head and walked past FP, reaching to the light switch that illuminated his makeup mirror as he sat down.

"Marshall..." FP began, the warning tone in his voice alerting them both that the situation before him could turn incredibly ugly all too quickly.

"Hmm...?" Marshall replied playfully as he looked up at FP and brushed his cheek carelessly with a finishing powder.

FP scowled, his eyes narrowing. "I will ask you once more," He took a deep breath before continuing. Marshall knew all too well that FP had a raging temper, and while he tried to contain it as much as he could, going as far as to be labeled as the sweet, silent-type to their fans, he knew that he was playing with fire at the moment. "Where have you been? Why are you an hour late?" He finished.

Marshall turned back to the mirror, admiring his reflection for a few moments before meeting FP's gaze in the reflection of the mirror. The situation with Finn at The Treehouse had left him a bit too cocky and self assured. Now he was going to try to challenge the leader of the band, the young man who seemed to be wandering through this world as if he were made of an entirely different element. Burning everything he came into contact with if he didn't take extra care. "Well, Stitches, I had an engagement if you must know." He replied, flicking more powder into the air as he pulled open the first drawer of his makeup table and pulling the fake, pointed canine caps for his teeth.

Before Marshall knew what was happening, he found himself pressed up against a wall, the air being pressed from his body all at once. His feet dangling a few inches from the ground. FP's burning amber eyes locked with his own. "Marshall Lee, I have worked far too hard and too long to have your pseudo-punk, misunderstood rich kid persona wipe it out in one night when you don't feel like coming to a show."

Marshall grasped frantically at the hands gripping at his jacket, he choked and sputtered, kicking at FP, whose expression was unreadable and cold.

"Do we understand eachother?" FP said furiously, slamming Marshall once more into the wall before letting him drop on all fours to the ground and retreating quickly from the room.

"Bastard..." Marshall hissed as he leaned back onto his knees and whiped the corner of his mouth where a mixture of blood and spit was trickeling from where he had bit his lip earlier during the scuffle.

He would remember this.

* * *

They did not speak for the remainder of their walk to the Cube. Finn always remained a few paces ahead of her, replying with cold, quick, answers everytime she attempted to start a conversation.

Her heart beginning to ache more and more with every step they took. Seeming to come to a climax as they reached the front entrance of the Cube.

Finn handed the usher their tickets. Whose eyes grew wide as he read them.

"I will show you to your seats." He said in a hurried whisper, seeming to avoid both their gazes as he whipped and weaved between clots of people who giggled and poked at eachother. Some high, some drunk, others just out to have a good time, like Fiona wished she was having right now.

"He never uses his comp tickets..." The usher mused to himself, glancing at the tickets held tightly in his sweaty palm.

"What was that?" She retorted.

"Oh nothing." The usher relied absentmindedly as they finally came to a halt.

Finn had trailed behind her. Glowering at the usher as he pointed them to their seats in the front row. She nodded a quick thank you to him before he scurried off to be as far away from them as he could possibly be.

"Well then." She snorted, subsequently blowing her bangs from her vision, forcing a smile to spead across Finn's lips. She smiled too, aware that she was beginning the long processs of chipping away at the wall he had quickly constructed around him after their fight. The smile. His smile.

The lights began to lower, and a series of pyrotechnics enveloped the stage. A rainbow of greens, blues, and pinks surging into exsistance, and then as quickly fading into the oblivion of darkness. Their sparks warm and exciting, while the subsequent absense of heat, of fire, left her feeling confused and lonely.

A quiet strum of a guitar sent the entire audience into a chorus of hushed whispers. It sent chills down her spine. Never before had she experienced anything so new, so exciting. The anticipation, the common theme that ran through every member of the audience, the buzzing electric hum of anticipation which was followed by the sensation of being simulationiously drunk and hungover all at once. Her legs buckled ever so slightly under her as a single spot light hit the stage.

There was another moment of silence, this time, no hush whispers followed. The only sound was an occasional guitar rift and the clash of cymbols, the hesitant beat of a drum. The spotlight clicked off, and once more the entire audience was consumed in darkness.

A quite chuckle began in the far back of the arena, but slowly spread to the speakers, moving from the back to the front, so by the time it reached her, it had turned to a amused cackle. It sent more shivers down her spine. She instinctively reached for Finn's arm, but found that he was gone.

A painful lump began to develop in her throat, one of those that had the tendency to produce tears the more you swallowed against it in an attempt to make it disappear. _This wasn't going at like she had planned..._

He attention was pulled back to the stage as another spotlight clicked on, this one closer to the front, closer to where she stood. Too distracted by the absence of her dear friend to notice earlier, she now realized the systemiatic hiss of a smoke machine from behind stage and the curls of smoke that now fell over the sides of the stage, curling around her legs and arms like a translucent snake.

The base began its slow thump, subsequently followed by the clash of cymbals and beat of a drum, a whining guitar being the last instrument to join the serenade. Another cackle echoing through the speakers as a platform began to rise from beneath the stage. A lackered black coffin balanced on top of it, a single golden cross engraved near the top, smoke beginning to swirl around its base as it had done to her, wrapping possesivley around the base.

The band began to grow louder, and the audience chanted something in unison she could not make out. An uproar of deafening cheers enveloping her as the coffin ceased to rise from its subterranean habitations beneath the stage. Then all at once the band stopped playing and the coffin creaked open. The audience was chanting quietly. Becoming louder and louder as more spotlights began to illuminate a path from the coffin to the front of the stage. She could not make out what was inside.

More pyrotechnics shot from behind the band as they began another slow melody, growing louder and more spastic as the coffin began to rattle, which incited a large clamor of cheers from the crowd. Another haunting laugh began as a form stepped from the confines of the coffin. _She knew that grin..._

Marshall stood there, blindfolded, hands crossed languidly over his chest, his head leaning to the left. He was dressed in a victorian-style white Bard shirt, with an unbuttoned black satin vest, and an enormous red ruby amulet in the shape of a pentagram dangling from his neck. Tight, high wasted black trousers tucked into a pair of black leather boots. The most noticeable part of his wardrobe by far being the addition of two sharpened canine teeth that protruded from his top lip and slipped over his bottom lips. The drums began to beat in a steady rhythm, growing louder, Marshall began to tremble, his arms began to shake and his head began to bob with every subsequent beat of the drum, the twang of the electric guitar. Falling to the ground before the crowd as the band grew louder. Kneeling and crawling forward on the stage, under the spotlights, a microphone clutched in his hands. He began to sing. Fiona had never heard him sing before, his voice was chilling, haunting, most of all it was intoxicating.

She shivered. He pulled his blindfold down as he stopped right before her. Leaning as far forward over the stage as he dared, his mouth inches from her as he sang savagely into the microphone beginning to pull at his clothes and rip a hand seductively through his hair.

After what seemed like an eternity, he stood up, winked, and swaggered back over to the center of the stage, where an enormous screen lit up behind him, giving all the rest of the audience a close up of what she had just witnessed. His pale face, entrancing eyes, pearly white teeth...

Her cheeks burned as she watched, she tried slapping them to make the flush disappear, but the more she thought about it, the redder she became. His teeth, his hair, the alluring scent... _How had she allowed him to mesmerize her so?_

By now the band was well into their opening piece. Marshall singing into the microphone, his whole body vibrating with the music, his passion, his form, it was _Overwhelming_. _No, she couldn't let him win... _She peeled her eyes from the stage and began searching for Finn in the crowd of swaying bodies around her.

As if sensing her fleeting attention, Marshall began to sing louder, his voice dripping with seduction, singing about wanting to hold someone close, then tare them apart... _He really did play the part of the vampire well... A little too well. His presence confused her, made her feel ways she had never felt before... they differed from those towards Bernabon. Bernabon was so polite, so cordial... No, she couldn't allow her mind to wander, she had to find Finn, to make sure everything was alright._

* * *

He looked apprehensively down at the small illuminated screen. Another missed call from his father...

He had promised himself not to check the phone until he got home, but his _"Last Hurrah" _was already going so terribly that he couldn't help himself, didn't see the point in avoiding adding further insult to injury. Now he wished he hadn't.

In a childish show of impatience at not having his calls answered, his father had ended up sending the information that seemed so pertinent, right to his phone in the form of a long text.

It was the profile on his affianced...

"Icey... Regina..." He whispered. That was her name. He shuttered. He had crossed paths with her and her twin black and white themed minions which flanked her on either side as she strutted down the halls.

_He also knew that she had screwed half the football team..._

"Finn? Is that you?" Fiona said hesitantly, grabbing his shoulder and peering at his face intently.

He quickly pulled his phone back into his pocket and forced another smile. "Oh... Hi, Fi! Wha... What are you doing here?" He said hesitantly.

She knew he was hiding something, but she didn't say anything. She knew that neither one of them were in the position to start another disagreement and win. "I turned around and saw that you were gone... then when you were gone for so long I began to worry..." She confessed, shuffling her feet in hesitation, unsure of his mood. Never before had they ever been so out of synch as they were now.

"Oh yes, I was just heading back in..." He lied.

"Well I don't see the point." She teased.

"And why is that?" He replied, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Well..." She began, scanning the swarms of bodies that weaved around them. "I hate to break it to you, but the concert is over."

He looked up from the phone screen he had pulled from his pocket, once more and glancing quickly around. She was right.

"So what now?" He said a little guiltily.

"Well, we were invited to take a tour backstage, but Marshall texted me a few moments ago and told me that tonight would not be the best time, it seems like he got in a little bit of trouble for showing up late to call..." She couldn't help but smile as she thought about Marshall Lee, the suave, wannabe vampire being bossed around by anyone.

"As well as I can't help but get the feeling that something happened between you two when I was out taking that call."

Finn smirked. "What was your first clue?"

She smiled and slugged him playfully in the arm. "Call it a woman's intuition."

This time he laughed outright and laced his arms around her hips, pulling her closer to him as they exited the Cube.

He winced as his bandaged knuckles were hit with the chilling cold wind that whipped around them.

She looked down at his knuckles and held them tightly against her sides in an attempt to shield them with her warmth. His cheeks went rosy, knowing that he couldn't blame that on the weather alone.

"Come on, let's go home and I can re-bandage those for you. You did a pretty piss poor job to be honest." She teased as he pulled a hand from her and adjusted his white beanie.

_Maybe there still was a chance... He thought to himself as they made their way back to their apartments. His mind buzzing with what might happen next._

* * *

**Quick Author's Notes:**

**First of all... Did you like Marshall's Rocker Vamp persona, or was that just me?**

**Second, I am feeling an oncoming fluff scenes in the next chapter, coming from all sides none the less! So you have been warned! ;)**

**And finally, as always, I would not be able to continue to write without your kind words and comments!**

**I love to hear the ways you (the wonderful and beautiful readers) think this fic will end, or where it is going. You truly make this fic worth writing! I will try to post an update in the coming week! So stay tuned!**

**There is no such thing as bad fluff... is there? Oh I hope not!**


	17. A World of Pure Imagination

**Author's Notes: **

**So... I know there is not a TON of fluff in this chapter, but I wanted to focus on the interaction between the two in this chapter, I will try to post the next chapter very shortly. Hopefully that will have more "fluff" between characters... **

**Sorry, this is my first time writing fluff, so I kind of suck at it... **

**Enjoy ^.^ **

* * *

**Chapter 17: A World of Pure Imagination... Never exactly like we want it to be...**

The door clicked and swung open as he shoved the key back into his pocket.

"Sorry about the mess..." He mumbled, quickly sprinting around the room and snatching armfuls of empty junk food wrappers and dirty clothes and tossing them into empty hallway closets and already-brimming trashcans.

"Fin, I am over here all the time." She teased, unsure why he was acting so oddly.

"I am used to your level of cleanliness."

He looked up at her and grinned. "Busted."

"So where are the bandages?"

He stared at her, momentarily confused to what she was talking about.

"For your hands?" She continued, gesturing to his stained knuckles.

"Oh..." He blushed a little, hoping she hadn't noticed he had been staring at her. "Down the hall and to the right, and this time, don't get lost."

She blew her bangs out of her face, an act of indignation, before slipping off her heels and disappearing silently down the hall.

* * *

"Oww!" He howled, attempting to pull his scabbing hand from her ironclad grasp.

"Don't move!" He growled, slapping his cheek playfully in warning. "For such a beefcake you really don't do well with pain."

"I am not a beefcake!" He spat, quickly pulling his freshly re-bandaged hand from her grip as she started unraveling his other hand. Nursing it gingerly in her lap. "It's only because I train! That's why I have muscles.."

"Like its going out of style..." She teased, pressing a cotton swab laced with antiseptic to his freshly cracked and bleeding knuckle.

"Ouch!" He screeched.

"See what I mean? You may have muscles for days, but you can't handle any pain whatsoever."

"Like you're so experienced in pain." He sneered, pulling his hand from her grip to examine it. She let it willingly slide from her hands, staring out into space for a moment, as if she were remembering something painful, her face twisting unconsciously into a wince.

But just as quickly as her mood came upon her, it passed, something snapping her from her daydream, her eyes rolling back to his shocked expression.

Her hand shot out pulling his hand back into lap. "I know more about pain than I would like to admit." She mumbled as she began to pat carelessly at his knuckles with the cotton swab. He winced, more at her words than the stinging cold of the antiseptic.

_Great Finn, you just shoved your foot in your mouth... _

They were quiet as she finished bandaging his other hand. He spoke only after she set his hand down and leaned back into her seat on the couch.

"Fi?"

She mumbled in acknowledgement as her head sunk deeper into the plush pillows.

"What did you mean when you said you knew what pain was?"

She shifted uncomfortably around in her seat, trying to think of a reasonable explanation to her earlier words.

"Oh, training, stuff like that. That's why I am so much better than you when we spar." She said in a half-hearted tease, sitting up from her slouch and looking at him.

The room was dark save for one small antique lamp lit in the corner. The lampshade was a collage of bright, differently colored glass, casting the room in fractals of rainbow light, dancing on the floor and the white walls like fairies shimmering in and out existence. A small patch of red in particular seemed to fancy Finn, casting half of his face in the warm embrace of a color similar to the light of a sunset.

"No Fi." He looked at her. His eyes piercing, seeing through her lie. "You know that's not what I mean."

"Finn... I can't." She pleaded.

He stood up from the couch and walked over to the windows leading to his balcony, which had been slightly open before this point. He shut it loudly, his back still to her as he continued. "Fi, I thought I was your friend..."

"You are Finn..." She pleaded.

"Then why don't you trust me?" He turned to face her. His eyes filled will tears that he refused to spill.

She ran to him, pulling him into a tight embrace, burying her wet cheeks in,the folds of his jacket. Without any hesitation he pressed her against his body, burying his own burning cheeks in her falling hair.

"Imagine..." She hiccuped, pulling her face from his chest and looking up at him. "Imagine if the world around you was new, strange, frightening, and you had to become something you never though you would ever be..."

"Fi..." He held her chin in his hand, his other arm lacing around her waist.

"And then imagine that then, just when you thought that you were lost and then all of a sudden... You meet familiar faces, faces you thought you knew, ones that you had loved, had lost, and now you must face those same faces everyday, here, in this new world..." She trailed off.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Finn, that I am not from this world..."

His eyes flickered, confusion filling his eyes.

"See? I knew I couldn't tell you..." She looked at the ground, trying to pull away from him.

The clock on the wall began to chime twelve.

"No Fi, you can tell me anything." He whispered, pulling her back towards him as she attempted to flee. Her body tense for several moments as the clock continued to toll.

"May I kiss you?" He whispered, propping her chin once again in his hand. She searched his eyes, looking for some sign of a trick, but nothing arose. How could she have doubted him?

She closed her eyes, a silent yes.

His ears turned red as his lips began to press on hers. His body felt weightless, free, nothing but their lips touching. None of her past kisses she had hesitantly placed on his cheeks during their sparing sessions or as she placed his breakfast plate on the table, compared to this.

Her head was buzzing with excitement. The freedom of knowing that someone else knew her secret, someone else knew her secret and they didn't care. Finn didn't care who she was, what she was all he knew was that he loved her. Their kiss deepened a little, more urgency and passion behind it now. Only breaking as the clock ceased striking midnight.

"Finn, I think I might love you..."

He looked at her, his eyes full of both joy and sadness. A knot began to form in the pit of her stomach. The inevitable 'but', the explanation, the crashing cold of reality.

"Fi, there is something I need to tell you."

She sucked in a heavy breath, feeling as if it were her first gulp of air after coming to the surface in a ocean of euphoria.

He bit at the corner of his lip.

_What had he been thinking? He had been selfish, careless, above all he was about to hurt the person he cared about most in the world..._

Yes, he had managed it, he had made Fiona fall in love with him, but at what cost? Any amount of physical pain in the world would be more bearable than the explanation that spilled from his lips.

The chilling silence that followed. Her eyes free from tears, the tears he wished that both were and weren't there.

The pain forcing his knees to buckle underneath him, pulling him down, anchoring him to the ground as she fled from his embrace...

His misty eyes following her form as she rushed out the door, leaving her shoes behind.

The darkness swirling around him, he collapsed, knowing that when he awoke the next morning, nothing would ever be the same.


	18. Let's Rock

**Chapter 18: Let's Rock**

She had been avoiding him. It hurt her too much to be near him, to even look at him. She knew she had been a fool, she had warned herself about falling in love. If her heart had ached when Bernabon had left, then the long explanation that had followed the kiss had to be what disintegration was like, her heart felt like it was at ground zero when a nuclear bomb had gone off. Leaving nothing behind, not even an remnant of what could be called a heart.

He had tried talking to her in class, calling her on the phone, texting, emailing. He even went as far as to stand outside the entrance of her penthouse and wait for her to leave in the mornings. As she had made a new custom of leaving early in the mornings, way before he was even out of bed. When that happened, she walked by him, but said nothing. He followed behind her as she walked to school, trying to make conversation, even illicit a reaction from her.

Nothing.

She couldn't be his partner in any of the classes they shared, so she had taken up the habit of ditching them, and coming to the library to do research instead.

Today, Friday, had been a particularly good day research-wise. She had been able to cross reference a modern book on theoretical wormhole travel with a dusty manuscript from a multi-volume series on alchemy and other, lesser known, pseudo-magical practices. Both revealed that travel, such as hers was likely, but highly improbable... But hey, it was a start!

It was one book in particular, one bound in a mixture of thinly-carved oak and leather. Inscribed on the cover with symbols that seemed oddly familiar. There were pages written in the same script as on the cover, but a few of the pages were written in an ancient language she had seen on the walls of dungeons back home, so, being the top notch adventuress she was, she had studied it enough to get by, know when a booby trap was ahead, were the treasure was stashed... That sort of stuff...

The pages she could read were a mixture of spells and prophetic style proses written in a blueish black ink, the corners adorned with touches of faded gold and a blood red ink that seemed to sparkle in the faintest of light.

One page in particular drew her attention, a small prose of poetry stuffed in between blocks of cryptic writing.

_Food becomes flesh_

_The breathless shall breathe_

_the sword will become the master._

_And reality shall weep for her fate._

The first time she glossed over the words, her mind fuzzy from boredom, she thought she had made it up. So she read over it again, a little more carefully this time, mouthing each syllable as her eyes checked and rechecked each word.

She blinked a couple times, expecting the words to disappear from before her very eyes, but they remained before her on the page.

"Glob..." She whispered.

"Who knew you were such a bookworm?" An overly sweet voice purred in her ear.

She spun around, all at once all to aware of her messy hair and wrinkled uniform.

Marshall smirked at her and glided around the perimeter of the large oak table she had covered in heaps of books, stopping at the opposite side of the table and plopping down unceremoniously in the chair opposite her own.

"A little light reading I see..." He teased, picking up the top book in a pile she had liberated from the physics subsection of the science wing.

"I have interests outside of math and going to concerts..." She muttered, wishing he would leave more than anything, she just wanted to be alone.

"Like skipping school?" He replied, glancing up from the book he was pretending to read and smirking.

Her ears went red. Her eyes narrowed on him before attempting to slip back down on to the page with little success.

"It's alright if you want to be like me, Fi. Most of the kiddies do..." He continued, closing the book altogether, cracking a sly grin at her. When she did not look up from her book, he continued musing. "Where is your knight in shining armor anyways? I haven't seen him around... Well, scratch that, I have seen him around, but not with you. I thought you two were joined at the hip or some bullshit like that. Now he only seems to hang out with that Icy chick... Man, that bitch gives me the creeps. I mean she walks into a room and you just..."

"Will you just leave me alone?" Fiona spat, keeping her eyes down on the page before her.

Marshall was quiet for a moment. Shocked. _She had always been a little brisk in the past with him, but today seemed different, it wasn't the normal playful banter of the past, no, this was a completely different Fi..._

"I would love to." He began, scooting his chair in closer to the table, leaning in as close to her as he could manage. "But you see, Ms. Keadersen, I am head over heels madly in love with you."

Her eyes shot up at him, her body tensed, were those tears he saw in her eyes? She jumped out of her chair, as if it was suddenly covered with ants, then grabbing armfuls of books and retreating from the table, making sure to keep her back to him as she fled.

"Fi! Fi! Fiona! Where are you going?" He called hastily after her.

She paused for a moment, her back to him as she replied. "Do you want to know why we aren't hanging out anymore, Marshall? I mean Finn and me?"

He nodded.

"It's because I've learned that not everyone deserves love..." She turned to face him, her arms shaking from the weight of all the books in her hands, her cheeks wet with tears.

"Fiona..." He whispered. Standing from his chair and stepping towards her.

"No, don't come near me Marshall! Just forget about me! Go back to playing in your band, reading in the poetry section, maybe even start plotting another scheme to bring the Schweet Family down, make them pay..."

Her arms collapsing from the weight of all the books and toppling onto the floor. She fell to the ground, trying to scoop all the books up into her arms again. Marshall took this moment to dive in next to her, pulling her into a tight hug as she held a book in her grasp.

"No, Fi, I think everyone in this world deserves love. You more than most."

"Yes, everyone in this world..." She murmured into his shirt, her words muffled to the point of abstract mumbles by the time they reached his ears.

"Listen Fi, why don't we get out of here? I think being in this library too long can make anyone a little batty..."

He released her from his grasp. She slunk back a little, wary of him, as if she were a feral cat, and he was a stranger offering her a can of tuna.

"Marshall, please. I just want to be alone." She replied as she began to pick up the pile of books around them and organize them into neat stacks.

"Oh come on Fi! You can't mope around like this forever! You need to talk about this!"

"Is he bothering you Fiona?"

The voice made her blood run cold, she looked up from the book written in cryptic writing she held in her hand and met his eyes, and all at once wished she hadn't.

Finn looked down at her. The same care and concern ever-present in his eyes, but there was a new addition to his figure. One that had latched itself onto his arm the moment he walked into the school on Monday morning... It was Icy Regina.

She looked cooly down at Fiona and Marshall, possessively wrapping an arm around Finn's, keeping eye contact with Fiona as she did so. After a moment of silent gloating, her eyes moved over to Marshall, a sneer spreading across her perfectly cotton candy frosted lips.

Fiona couldn't speak, so Marshall did.

"I don't remember a dog whistle blowing, so what are you doing here?"

Fiona could see Finn's hand tightening into a fist at his side.

"I don't think I was talking to you..."

"Well you are now." Marshall spat, getting up and standing eye to eye with Finn. An eternity passing between the two as they sized each other up. Finally interrupted by Icy's less than discreet clearing of her throat. Finn's gaze snapping from Marshall to the leech that had taken up residence on his arm.

"Finny-poo, daddy specifically told us that we can't be late for dinner tonight, so I need you to escort me home now so I will be ready in time."

Finn's jaw clenched and unclenched in frustration, before his face cleared of all lingering hostility.

"Yes, of course Icy, I will walk you to your car..."

"No! NO! NO!" Icy interrupted, stamping her feet on the ground like a small child about to throw a tantrum. "I want you to come over so you can help me pick out what to wear! Maybe play some dressup?" She whispered teasingly.

Finn made a hard swallow. "But Icy..." He pleaded.

Marshall snickered. "Looks like you finally got that girlfriend you wanted to badly..."

Finn looked like he was about to pounce on Marshall when Fiona's phone began to ring. She raced over to where she had left it on the table still piled high with books. She gasped, the same number from the night of the concert... It was Pep's... She couldn't bring herself to answer it. She clicked the ringer off and pushed it back into the depths of her backpack, but when she looked up, only Marshall was there, bending over and picking up the stacks of books and setting them on a nearby table.

"I think I scared them off for the time being..." He smiled, walking over to her.

"How did you manage that?"

"I pretended that I was calling some of my men. It scared the girl off enough that she made your knight there come with her. I think if she hadn't I would be lying on the floor right now with him punching my teeth out, and I know that wouldn't be good for the band."

She giggled a little at the last part.

He broke into a large smile. "It's good to hear you laugh again."

She smiled to herself as she replied. "Yeah, it seems like forever since I have."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"You mean how the first boy to break my heart is on the other side of the world right now taking care of his ailing father, and keeps trying to call me? Or is it the fact that my best friend admitted he loved me, and then promptly confessed to me that he was engaged? Or maybe it is the fact that I am..." She stopped, knowing she couldn't continued her sentence.

"You are what?" He urged her.

"Nothing." She sighed, grabbing her backpack, pulling her hat over the top of her head, and making her way towards the exit.

She only got out the door and was met by the chilly kiss of autumn when Marshall was hot on her heels.

"Listen, I know you are going through some stuff right now, and I know you are trying to pull off this whole 'loner' persona, but to be honest it doesn't suit you in the least. So..."

"So..." She repeated, shivering a little, wishing she had brought a sweater with her.

"So..." He said, looking to the side and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to band practice."

"Why?" She questioned, wondering if it was another one of his tricks.

"Because I couldn't stand the thought of you being miserable for another moment." The words falling from his mouth like rapid gun fire.

She was speechless.

"So?" He continued, looking up at her, the slightest hint of a blush apparent on his cheeks.

* * *

"So this is the reason you were late to call?" Ash teased, walking around Fiona, inspecting her as if she were a piece of art that required serious analysis. "Ash likey..." He grinned, stepping back and admiring her from a distance.

"Marshall, if you don't get this weirdo away from me in the next five seconds, you are going to have to call an ambulance." Fiona warned, glaring at Ash as she walked over to him.

"Ash, leave the pretty girl alone, you know she is way out of your league anyways..." Marshall said absentmindedly, fiddling with the wires of a microphone.

"Hey, hey, hey! Haven't you ever heard of the prince and the pauper? This is pretty much the same thing!" Ash whined, inching closer to Fiona.

"I think you have your stories mixed up..." A tall, bright red-haired boy with tattoos crawling up and down the lengths of his arms said sternly from the doorway.

"Oh you're no fun!" Ash mumbled.

"Or maybe I am just well-educated." The mystery boy shot back, walking over to where Fiona stood next to Marshall. "Why don't you go and check out what I brought in the van..." He said to Ash, more of a command than a request.

Ash muttered something about him not being the boss and slunk outside to the parking lot.

"And who are you?" The boy said, turning to stare down Fiona.

"Oh... Uh... Well.." Fiona began.

"She came with me!" Marshall interrupted, squeezing himself in between Fiona and the boy.

"You know the rules, Marshall. No guests during jam sessions." The boy said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, but..."

"No excuses!" The boy snapped.

"Listen." Fiona interrupted, shoving Marshall aside and looking up at the boy, she had dealt with bullies in the past, and he wasn't going to scare her off. "Marshall invited me. I am not going to leave, I am a guest, so you better treat me like one."

"No! You listen here girly!" The boy spat.

_Girly... She thought, her mind filling with rage._

"You shouldn't have done that..." Marshall moaned, stepping back as she pulled her arm back and made a fist.

Before she knew what was happening her fist was making contact with the bottom of his jaw, pushing him off his feet. He fell to the ground, staring up at her in shock.

"Marshall." He squeaked, still looking at her.

"Yes?" Marshall said hesitantly.

"You can keep her around. I like her spunk." He grinned up at her, rubbing the spot where she had punched him.

"Glad to hear you changed your mind." Fiona grinned back at him, offering him a hand to help him up. He took it, and she pulled him to his feet.

"Pretty and strong." The red haired boy mused. "The name is Ferris Princely, but you can call me FP." He said, offering her his hand, which she took and shook twice.

"And you are?"

"Oh, my name is Fiona." She gave a little smile and bowed. "I went to your concert the other night, you are amazing."

"Oh it's really that wannabe over there that is the real talent." He beamed, gesturing to Marshall, who was currently fumbling with more wires. "But don't let him know, he already has the ego the size of a small planet!" He whispered to her confidentially.

"I am offended!" Marshall shouted back at them with his back to them. "I actually have the ego of a small solar system!"

FP rolled his eyes and Fiona giggled. She was happy Marshall had invited her.

* * *

'What about this one?" Icy inquired, stepping from her dressing room and parading around the room for him.

Finn, consumed with boredom, clicked his phone on and off. "I think it is lovely." He replied, not even glancing up from his phone to look at the 17th dress she had tried on so far.

"You are just saying that!" She teased. Looking at herself in the mirror next to the couches Finn was currently sprawled out on.

She flipped her white-blond hair over her shoulder and struck a pose in the mirror.

Finn, meanwhile, unlocked his phone and clicked on the message icon, pulling up Fiona's contact. He hesitated, flipping through all the text messages that he had sent to her over the past week, none of which she had ever replied to.

_Oh Fi, I wish this had never happened... _

His phone pinged, informing him he had just received a message. He clicked on his inbox, hoping, praying for something.

It was... He couldn't believe his eyes, the top of the message informed him it was indeed, from Fiona. He clicked on it, it was a picture with a small caption underneath.

It was a picture of Marshall, he was winking, sticking his tongue out, and shooting the camera a peace sign. In the distance was a blurry Fiona singing into a microphone, one side flanked with a boy with flaming red hair on an electric guitar, and on the other, a boy with bleached white hair slamming on a drum set. The caption underneath read_ 'I think we just found our new opening act.' _

Finn scowled.

Icy screamed in alarm as his phone made contact with the wall farthest from the couch.


	19. To be Near

**AUTHORS NOTES **

**Hello everyone... Sorry for not updating in such a long time. **

**I will try to update more often. The story is going to be at its denouement very soon. SO STAY TUNED! I love your input. ;D **

* * *

**Chapter 19: To be Near **

"This party is going to be off the hook!" Jake whistled through his teeth as he finished pasting the last poster to a cross walk pole.

Rain, who stood next to him, crossed her arms and gave him a disappointed glare.

"What?" He cried innocently, shoving his hands into his pockets and pouting under her critical gaze.

She shook her head and continued walking down the street in front of him, the bracelets encircling half way up her arms jingling as she swayed confidently down the street. Men both young and old slowed down as she passed. Admiring the view.

"Lady! Wait up!" He whined, jogging to catch up with with his gorgeous girlfriend. Glaring at the men who had been eyeing his girl.

"Yeah, you better keep walking. She's taken." He grumbled to them under his breath.

He grabbed her arm when he had caught up. She pulled from his grasp and took a step back. Both of them obstructing the flow of pedestrian traffic on the busy sidewalk. People grumbling as they were forced to move around them.

"What do you think you're doing, Jake?" She shouted.

He looked down at the gum-littered concrete. Shuffling his feet.

"Well?" She urged him.

"I'm just trying to give my bro the party he deserves." He mumbled.

"By inviting half the town?" She snapped, raising an eyebrow and popping her hip out.

"I just wanted it to be special."

"Jake, have you even spoken to Finn recently?"

His eyes darted up to meet hers, then guiltily swoop down to the ground once more. He began walking against the flow of pedestrians. But she was upon him once more within two strides.

"Jake, I don't want you to spend all of your time on this party, if you're not even sure that the guest of honor is willing to come." She reasoned, taking his hand into hers.

He looked up at her and cracked a small smile. She smiled back. Then her eyes darted up across the street and grew wide.

"Oh my glob, Jake."

"What? What? What?" He said hurriedly, turning to glance around.

"That!" She said in a hurried whisper. Pointing across the street.

He followed her gesturing hand and gasped. It was Finn, but he wasn't alone...

"Icy Regina?" They gasped in unison, looking at each other, then back across the street. Watching the straight-faced Finn, and the parasite hanging gleefully at his arm. She babbled on, but anyone could tell that he was a million miles away.

"Where's Fi?" Rain said, concern clear in her voice.

"And why is Finn with that Bimbo?" Jake spat. Both of them watching as they disappeared inside an expensive-looking caffe across the street.

"There's only one way to find out." Rain replied, pulling a pair of sunglasses from her designer bag and putting them on.

Jake nodded, pulling his hood over his head.

"Incognito mode, activate!" They whispered. Taking each other by the arm and waltzing down the street towards their new objective.

* * *

Fiona flopped down on the couch in the "break room" of the band's studio. It was a break room in the sense that it was where the band members hung out when they were not practicing, but in reality it resembled a teenage boy's dreamland. The walls were painted a dark red and covered with vintage action movie posters. Several mismatched couches littered the corners of the large room, all circling around the large flat screen with a state of the art sound system.

She sunk deeper into the pillows, letting out a deep sigh as she nuzzled into the mass of pillows that inhabited her favorite couch. Her throat hurt from her one-on-one voice coaching session with FP.

"Why did I even let Marshall talk me into this?" She mumbled, falling onto her side of the couch, curling into a tight ball.

_Why was the couch so uncomfortable? _

She squirmed around, trying to get comfortable, but to little avail.

A small groan erupted from under the the mass of pillows.

She squeaked and fell off the couch, subsequently hitting her head as she fell. After a moment or two of dizzying confusion, she sat up, and went back over to investigate. pulling some of the pillows off the couch and gasping.

An angle-faced, sleeping Marshall laid nestled beneath the mountain of pillows. His hair was gelled and messy with sleep. His long lashes, ebony black, rested on his high cheek bones. His shirt, unbuttoned more than usual, showed off his toned chest, which slowly rose and fell with his steady breaths.

She couldn't help but stare. His form was mesmerizing. Yes, Marshall had always been handsome, well... who was she kidding, she was drop dead gorgeous. A rude, crude-humored, devilish adonis. Why was her heart beginning to race? Snapping out of her daydream, and beginning to take the pillows around her, and cover him once again.

She couldn't stand the thought of Marshall knowing that he, for even a moment, had made her heart race.

All of a sudden she felt a cool grasp tighten around her wrist, and pull her back into the pillowy fortress.

She felt hot breath on her face, and a light rumble of a laugh centered in the portion of his chest that remained bare.

"Did my little bunny get bored?" He teased, pulling her closer and grinning slyly.

She reddened. "Marshall, let me go." She warned. "I am not your bunny!"

He took her hand, which he still held in his grasp, and pressed it to his lips. Saying nothing.

She tried to pull away, but his grip was stronger than she had anticipated.

Another laugh grumbled in his chest. Deep and self-assured. She was all of a sudden aware of their unimaginable closeness. His legs tangled with her own. Cheek rested on cheer. Sharing the same air in the most intimate of ways.

"You should know better than to be alone in a room with a dangerous young man." He teased, kissing her palm and smiling.

Her heart began beating faster. She gulped and tried to slow her heartbeat, closing here eyes, trying to focus on anything else but him. She couldn't let him get the better of her.

She was pulled back into reality as she felt his kisses beginning to trail up her arm. A soft bite here or there. His hands beginning to wander

"Marshall, please." She said, her voice pleading.

All at once he stopped. His expression changing from one of sly confidence to contrition. He let her hand drop from his grasp as he sat up, emerging from the mountain of pillows they had both been under.

"I'm sorry Fi, I don't know what I was thinking... I just..." He paused. Pressing his fingers against his temples, massaging them.

"I just want this to work... I want you..." He stood up, grabbing his glasses from the coffee table and buttoning up his shirt. "I don't know what I was thinking." He finished, Disappearing out the door into the dark hallway.

FP smirked to himself. Leaning against the wall outside of the break room. He had overhead the entire exchange. "Well, well, well... Does our Marshall have a little crush? I mean, I was a little surprised to say the least by your 180 makeover, but now it all makes sense.

He Looked up at Marshall, who paused, his back to his bandmate.

"Stay out of this, FP."

"and what if I don't?"

"Then you won't have your lead singer anymore. And I doubt she'll stay if I don't." He gestured to the doorway. "I've seen the way you look at her."

FP sucked in a breath, but said nothing.

"Thought so." Marshall hissed. Running a hand through his hand and letting the darkness consume him. Embracing it for the first time since all those years ago...

* * *

Later that evening, as she left the studio, her voice ragged with exhaustion. She pulled out her phone to see if Cake had contacted her. The light from the screen hurting her blood-shot eyes. Her fingers shivered as she pulled them from the confines of their warmth in her cozy pockets. The weather was becoming colder very quickly. Hot puffs of breath escaping from her lips and making tiny clouds abover her head. She had changed her phone number after the calls from the same number wouldn't stop. Just as she finished up reading the text message informing her that Cake apologizing that she would be late, again.

**Cake: I am thinking Chinese tonight... :D **

another message alert appeared.

**B: Look up.**

confused, and unsure of who it could be, she looked up.

"Hey there."

Her mouth went dry. It was Bernabon. Standing in front of her. His hair now a pale blond compared to his usual bright, bubblegum pink.

He was in a pair of tight, dark jeans, a casmere overcoat, and a magenta scarf.

He looked at her shyly. His head slightly bowed.

"Bernabon..." She whispered. "But how... How did you..."

"Fiona." He continued. Stepping towards her. Reaching out and pulling her into a tight embrace.

Her eyes grew wide_. How long had it been? How much time had passed since her world had been turned upside down? _

He pulled back, keeping his hands on her shoulders, admiring her beauty. All at once pressing a light kiss to her cheek.

"Pardon my rudeness... I don't know what came over me." He apologized, blushing as he pulled away from her cheek. His breath steaming, as her own had been.

"Oh Bernabon, so much has changed." Her voice wavered.

"It sure has, hasn't it?" Marshall's voice was like ice behind her.

A chill ran up her spine.


End file.
